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So this was new for Brock Purdy, as an NFL quarterback. He was down in a game for the first time since the first quarter he played in—back against Miami on Dec. 4. He trailed by double digits for the first time. He was behind in the second half for the first time. He trailed on the road for the first time.
Because of all of that, it’s fair to ask the rookie quarterback just what was running through his head, and what was said to him, as the Raiders opened that 24–14 lead Sunday.
If only he could even remember.
“I’m just trying to think,” Purdy told me from the locker room postgame. “I don’t think a guy on the team really told me anything. I mean, we just all knew that we were down, and their offense was rolling. It’s just expected for all of us to get our minds right, in terms of, it’s gonna be a kind of game where we have to put up points on the board. It wasn’t like, .
“We have enough veterans on the team and leadership where guys like [Christian] McCaffrey and Juice [Kyle Juszczyk] and [George] Kittle and guys up front with [Mike McGlinchey and Trent [Williams], like, it. So that’s sort of just where we were at with it, and we didn’t make it anything more than it was.”
Evidently, just like having to hand the reins of a championship roster to a rookie quarterback in the first place, coming back with Purdy in the saddle, under the aforementioned deficit, is no big deal for the 49ers.Nor does it seem to be any big deal for Purdy himself.
And the results showed Sunday in San Francisco’s ninth consecutive win, which kept Purdy perfect as a starter at 4–0 and featured the seventh-round rookie bringing the Niners back from a 24–14 third-quarter deficit.
“I mean, for me, I’ve been in a lot of situations in college where we gotta go on a two-minute drill and move the ball, and the defense is trying to do certain things where I have to be alert to what they’re doing,” he says. “And, honestly, when I got out there, I was like, ”
Of course, for a lot of quarterbacks, there would be more to it than that.
Purdy didn’t let it come to that Sunday.
But first, he, and the offense, had to keep San Francisco close in the first half. And while he threw for only 38 yards on 7-of-10 passing before the break, two of those throws were for touchdowns in the red zone.
The first was over the middle to Brandon Aiyuk in the first quarter. “We just set up a run, and for me, I knew that he was one-on-one backside and just play-faked to Christian and then set up for him coming across the middle,” he says. “So it was a well-designed play from Kyle [Shanahan], and I just did my part with that.”
And the second came with nine minutes left in the half, the ball snapped at the 2-yard line and Purdy reduced to a scramble situation. “I just went through my read on that,” he says. “It wasn’t the most ideal coverage for what we had drawn up, but I knew if I just could make a play with my legs and see George on the scramble drill, we’d have a chance. And sure enough, he popped open, and he does a great job with if the play’s not there in rhythm, he knows that I can get outside the pocket or just move around a little longer and find space.”
The problem was Jarrett Stidham—Derek Carr’s replacement—was doing more than keeping pace. He was ripping the Niners’ proud defense a new one.
On the second drive of the second half, Purdy was 4-of-4 for 45 yards on a run-game-fueled, eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. After a pick on the Niners’ next possession (Purdy threw one up for Kittle, and it went the wrong way), the teams traded field goals to get it to a 27–27 tie, and that’s when the Niners took command, first in jailbreaking a screen to McCaffrey for 38 yards, which set up a 14-yard touchdown run for Jordan Mason to give San Francisco the lead.
“We had a guy come up the middle untouched, and so instead of [McCaffrey] taking his time, trying to sell the screen and then get around, he saw the guy come up the middle and he turned around quick—which was awesome, because I’ve had some times where we’re running a screen and I got pressure and the backs are sorta taking their time,” Purdy says. “A great heads-up play for him, something people might not notice, but he saw the blitz, he turned around quick, got the ball to him and he made a great play.
“That was all him right there.”
After that, the Raiders answered with a touchdown, and Purdy came back with four consecutive completions to Aiyuk to set up a 41-yard field goal attempt to win the game at the gun.
“Honestly, I was going through my reads, man, and BA’s there,” Purdy says. “But I also know in crunch time when they’re playing man, BA is awesome in terms of creating separation and being where he needs to be. So I think it was a culmination of all those kinds of things. I mean with Deebo [Samuel] out and everything, like, BA’s definitely a guy that I trust outside at receiver. Yeah, just had to get the ball to him in space, so he did a great job of getting open.”
And that’s where the twist came. Robbie Gould came on and missed the kick, and Purdy would run one more play—a kneeldown to set up another Gould field goal try, following a play in which Nick Bosa forced a pick by walking left tackle Kolton Miller back into Stidham, knocking Stidham off-balance and his throw into safety Tashaun Gipson’s waiting arms.
“Nick, to pass-rush like he does and create the ball to go up into the air, it may not be the flashiest thing in terms of getting a sack or anything like that, but the dude does his job and he comes up clutch for this team time and time again,” Purdy says. “We definitely owe it to him. He’s awesome.”
Slowly but surely, it seems like Purdy’s proving himself to be just that, too.
In the second half Sunday, take away the one mistake (the aforementioned interception), and Purdy was 15-of-19 for 246 yards. He spread the ball around. He excelled in the biggest moments. And most of all, none of it was too big for him, and maybe that’s because, while you may be surprised with how all this is playing out, he just isn’t overwhelmed.
“I mean, I’ve always believed in myself from college to this point, preseason, all that kind of stuff,” he says. “I’ve always believed that I was good enough to play at this level, and all I needed was a shot and an opportunity. And so, for me, I don’t make it anything more than that, but I have guys around me, too. It’s not all Brock Purdy coming in and saving the day. I have a lot of leaders on this team, so I just gotta give them the ball, and they do the rest.
“That’s how I look at it.”
Few quarterbacks in his position, as a rookie, would.
