In Brock they trust.
Of all the transactions engineered by coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch to build the 2022 49ers, it was an afterthought that has helped them build a 10-game win streak and a 13-4 record, good for the No. 2 seed in the NFL playoffs.
There has been a buzz surrounding Brock Purdy, the 49ers’ No. 3 quarterback and the final player taken in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Iowa State. But Purdy has done more than create a buzz. He has taken a team loaded with talent and made that talent even better.
That much was in evidence Sunday as the 49ers closed out the regular season with a 38-13 win over the Arizona Cardinals. In an NFL season that has 68 different players start at quarterback, Purdy’s ascension probably isn’t getting the kind of attention it deserves.
Against the Cardinals, Purdy completed 15 of 20 passes for 178 yards and three touchdowns. He came in off the bench on Dec. 4, led the 49ers to a win over the Miami Dolphins and has played so well in his subsequent five starts that you almost take him for granted.
And let’s face it, the 49ers had no idea Purdy was capable of anything like this. If they did, they would have picked him earlier. To their credit, they did see enough to determine Purdy should stick around as No. 3 instead of veteran Nate Sudfeld, to whom they had paid a $2 million guarantee.
You can make the argument that Purdy has been lifted by a superior supporting cast and to some extent that’s true. Purdy admits his teammates are so good he doesn’t feel the same kind of pressure he did while running the show at Iowa State.
“I’ve got so many playmakers around me I don’t feel I have all the weight of the world on my shoulders to make something up,” Purdy said. “Kyle calls a great game plan, I just go through my progression, throw checkdowns to guys like Christian (McCaffrey) and Deebo (Samuel) and they make guys miss. I’ve just got to distribute it to guys and they come up with all the yards.”
But what Purdy is doing is not that easy. Not even close. He’s completed 114 of 170 passes (67.1 percent) for 1,374 yards, 13 touchdowns and four interceptions. He’s had at least two touchdown passes in each start. He had three against the Cardinals, one to McCaffrey and two more to George Kittle.
When the 49ers sputtered in the first half, it was Purdy who helped pull them out of it.
“I try not to be a rah-rah guy but say something at the right moments in the game,” Purdy said. “I’m hard on myself so it starts with myself. I had to do my part and be better early on before I could say something to somebody else. That’s really how today went.”
Kittle, who has caught seven touchdown passes from Purdy in the last four games after never having more than six in a season until now, loves the confidence of his quarterback.
“When a quarterback comes in the huddle and you can sense his confidence, it raises the level of play of everyone else in the huddle with his voice,” Kittle said. “He gets your attention whether it’s a walkthrough, a practice or a game. Not everybody has that.”
Middle linebacker Fred Warner has been fielding questions about Purdy for weeks and isn’t sure people comprehend the magnitude of what’s happening. On a team with veteran stars Kittle, Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, Kyle Juszczyk and Trent Williams, Purdy has become the band leader making sure everyone else is hitting the right notes.
“It’s amazing that a rookie is able to come in with such poise and confidence and lead that group,” Warner said. “I’m surprised people aren’t talking about it more, to be honest. It’s something that’s incredible for Mr. Irrelevant to lead the team we have into the postseason and now try to earn a Super Bowl, and we have full confidence in achieving that with him. It’s truly impressive to see the guys around him taking their games to the next level.
“The way George has been playing, Christian, Brandon, the list goes on and on. It’s Elijah Mitchell’s first game back and he gets two touchdowns.”
Fingertip catch for the TD! @gkittle46
📺: #AZvsSF on FOX
📱: NFL+ // https://t.co/KTh0i4oaLh pic.twitter.com/OqwCvI9Mnd— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) January 8, 2023
The 49ers were intrigued after the Dolphins game in that Miami attempted to zero-blitz Purdy into oblivion and he instead made big throws with defenders in his face.
“You kind of knew you had a guy,” Kittle said. “He’s made great throws. He’s been super smart with the ball. He’s quick, gets out of a lot of rushes and keeps his eyes up the field. Ever since the Dolphins game, it was like, ‘OK Brock, just be you.’ “
Purdy has taken to Shanahan’s hyper-critical style. Regardless of the margin of victory, Shanahan is a guy who puts mistakes under a magnifying glass and doesn’t spend a lot of time patting his players on the back for a job well done.
Shanahan was irked when Purdy took an unnecessary sack Sunday and no doubt found plenty of fodder for Monday’s film study.
“Brock did good things, had some plays he missed too,” Shanahan said. “He’s playing solid. He’s one of the reasons we’ve been doing this well for the last month or so.”
Shanahan said this without a trace of wonderment, as if the 49ers could have fully expected their third-string quarterback to come to rescue when Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo were lost to injury.
No rookie quarterback has ever won a Super Bowl, let alone the last player taken in the draft. It’s impossible to listen to anyone on the 49ers who doesn’t think Purdy is fully capable of being the first.
Purdy, of course, seems wise beyond his years in anticipating the playoff crush. Mitchell and Samuel are back and the 49ers’ offense is rolling. There’s no guarantee of success next weekend, however, without properly preparing during the week.
“We’re at the point where the regular season is over and the tournament starts,” Purdy said. “Every single day is vital in terms of getting better and understanding what our opponent is going to be doing. It matters.”
Do you believe it yet? The 49ers do.
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