SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Brock Purdy is no braggart.
But after Sunday’s 30-13 win over the New England Patriots, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback declared that his 10-yard split coming out of college was faster than those of Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey.
“I think”, he emphasized. “You’re going to have to fact-check me. I think I have just enough (speed) to get out of the pocket and make a play and get five, seven yards here or there. I am in no way Lamar Jackson.”
A more accurate explanation might be that his time was comparable to that of his teammates. Purdy’s 10-yard split of 1.55 seconds in 2022 was actually a few fractions of a second slower than Samuel’s (1.48) and McCaffrey’s (1.52) going into the draft.
Still, everyone gets his point, especially his recent opponents.
For the second straight game, Purdy resorted to his legs as the passing game sputtered. He gained 7 yards on the first third of the 49ers’ opening possession. He picked up 5 more – and a first down – on the second on a drive that lasted 15 plays and ended with a 22-yard Jake Moody field goal. There were also a few nifty throws in which Purdy looked like Fran Tarkenton as he got out of trouble, scrambled to the sideline and completed improbable passes before being hit. He finished 15 of 27 for 288 yards.
GO DEEPER
49ers sack Jacoby Brissett six times in 30-13 win over Patriots: Takeaways
It was far from a perfect match for Purdy. San Francisco had a chance to put the Patriots away for good early in the fourth quarter when Purdy’s pass, intended for Brandon Aiyuk in the end zone, was instead intercepted by safety Jabrill Peppers. Kyle Shanahan said afterward that he thought Purdy should have thrown the pass earlier, while Purdy said he didn’t see Peppers initially.
“It’s something I have to make progress on and not be greedy,” he said. “I think I pegged him two or three times, which is just not good as a quarterback. You go through your progress based on your hiccups and you read with your feet and that’s when I got greedy.
After four games, the passing game is not as smooth and automatic as it was at the start of last season, when the 49ers jumped to a 5-0 start. First, teams are focused on taking away Purdy’s bread-and-butter throws, including the intermediate and deep crossing routes to Aiyuk that were so reliable last season.
Last week, for example, the Los Angeles Rams sometimes dropped eight players in coverage and rushed only three, leading to one play where Purdy held the ball for more than 12 seconds. Purdy noted that on another play they dropped nine and only rushed two.
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On Sunday, he said the Patriots safeties did a good job of anticipating and taking away the 49ers’ favored routes. But as the game progressed, Purdy and the passing attack began to take advantage of these adjustments. As New England’s safeties continued to step forward to clog the middle, he started going deep. His three longest throws:
• A 53-yarder over the top against Deebo Samuel Sr. in the third quarter. Samuel, who lined up as a tailback to start the game, had three catches for 58 yards after missing last week’s game with a calf injury.
Deebo lets us go 55 meters into the field.
📺 #NEvsSF on FOX
NFL+ // https://t.co/KTh0i4oaLh pic.twitter.com/u3vZTNGkcJ— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) September 29, 2024
• A 45-yard strike to Jauan Jennings early in the fourth quarter. Jennings led the team in receiving yards for the second straight week, finishing with three catches for 88 yards.
JJ is out there somewhere
📺 #NEvsSF on FOX
NFL+ // https://t.co/KTh0i4oaLh pic.twitter.com/aqUyQBiGov— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) September 29, 2024
• A 38-yard pass to Aiyuk on Purdy’s first throw of the game. Aiyuk finished with modest receiving numbers — two catches for 48 yards — for the fourth straight game, but his second reception, a diving fingertip grab on third down, was the kind of high-difficulty problem he didn’t make. earlier in the season.
Even one of Purdy’s shorter throws, a 12-yard touchdown to George Kittle in the second quarter, traveled a long way through the air.
That’s our TE @gkittle46
📺 #NEvsSF on FOX
NFL+ // https://t.co/KTh0i4nCVJ pic.twitter.com/2KnvF7QeFz— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) September 29, 2024
Kittle said the play called for him to run from further back, such as around the 40-yard line. He thought that particular play was “a little aggressive” so close to the goal line.
“I wasn’t really confident in the play-calling,” he admitted afterward. ‘Because we originally called that from much further away. And when we called it from the (12-yard line), I had to double check with Brock to make sure we called the right play. And I was like, ‘Okay, man, throw it.’”
Purdy did so, placing the ball where only Kittle could catch it, and the 6-foot-4 tight end hauled in the pass among a trio of Patriots defensive backs under 6-foot-4.
That touchdown put the 49ers ahead 20-0, and they led by at least two scores the rest of the way.
Still, it was a muddy win against a Patriots team devoid of offensive talent and battered by injuries. The 49ers suffered a number of injuries of their own — including to defensive starters Fred Warner (ankle) and Jordan Elliott (knee) — and were dealt another costly special teams error, a kick-return fumble in the third quarter of Isaac Guerendo who led to New England’s only touchdown.
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The 49ers also continued to struggle in the red zone. They had six trips inside the Patriots’ 25-yard line on Sunday, but only two touchdowns, Kittle’s and a 4-yard run by Jordan Mason in the third quarter. Otherwise, they settled for three Moody field goals and threw one interception. Last season, they led the league in red zone efficiency, scoring touchdowns 67 percent of the time.
“We’ve got to clean that up, especially when we’re playing against very dominant teams that have really good offenses,” said Kittle, who seemed to acknowledge that the Patriots were a decidedly forgiving opponent before catching himself. “Not to say the Patriots don’t do that, but our defense played really well against them.”
(Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)