Purdy more than passes test in first start
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan did not exactly unveil a bold new playbook Sunday, full of long and daring pass plays for rookie quarterback Brock Purdy’s first NFL start.
But Shanahan also did more than ask Purdy to simply hand the ball to Christian McCaffrey.
Purdy’s smashing debut as the 49ers’ starter — the same role once filled by Joe Montana, Steve Young, John Brodie and Y.A. Tittle — mostly featured short, safe passes. That’s perfectly logical for a seventhround draft choice with little pro experience and modest arm strength.
Eleven of Purdy’s 16 completions traveled less than 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Five of his 21 attempts were thrown behind the line of scrimmage.
On the flip side: Two of his completions traveled 20 or more yards, both times for touchdowns (one to McCaffrey and one to Brandon Aiyuk). And five of Purdy’s completions sailed 10 or more yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
Ultimately, the numbers added up to a resounding 35-7 victory over Tom Brady and Tampa Bay, largely because of Purdy. He finished 16 of 21 for 185 yards and two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 134 passer rating. The running game helped by churning out 209 yards.
Purdy’s receivers also helped with some nice runs after the catch (61 of the 185 yards), but he displayed admirable poise and an accurate arm. As Fox analyst Greg Olsen half-jokingly put it during the telecast, “So far, the Brock Purdy era is off to a good start.”
Purdy also ran for a touchdown, eluding prospective tacklers on a 2-yard scramble on the opening play of the second quarter. That stretched San Francisco’s lead to 14-0 and helped propel Purdy into a rich realm of trivia.
• He finished the first half with a 146.5 passer rating, 185 yards through the air and three total touchdowns (two passing, one rushing). Purdy became the first quarterback to accumulate those numbers in the first half of his first career start since 1991 (per CBS), when stats per half were first tracked.
• Only one quarterback has posted those numbers in the first half of a game over the past four years: Arizona’s Kyler Murray against the Eagles in 2020 and the Vikings last year (per the Associated Press’ Josh Dubow).
• Purdy became the second 49ers quarterback to throw a touchdown pass and run for a touchdown in the first half of his first career start (per Sportradar). The only other one was Jeff Garcia in 1999 against the Titans.
Purdy’s day began with little historical flair. Tampa Bay safety Keanu Neal blitzed on the first play from scrimmage and crushed Purdy for an apparent sack, only to get called for roughing the passer.
Then, on Purdy’s first pass, he threw short and incomplete to Deebo Samuel. Purdy’s next pass covered only three yards to George Kittle. It momentarily looked like a dink-and-dunk game plan.
But on 3rd-and-7, Purdy fired a high-velocity, 15-yard completion to Kittle — 14 of them on the throw, plus one yard after the catch. That set up a good run by McCaffrey and Samuel’s sweep right for the game’s first touchdown.
Later, Purdy lofted a 27-yard touchdown pass to McCaffrey, releasing the ball just before two pass rushers arrived. McCaffrey made the catch at the goal line and barely kept his feet inbounds as he tumbled across the sideline.
“I ran straight, I was open and Brock threw me the rock,” McCaffrey said in lyrically recapping the play.
As for Purdy’s composure in his first start, McCaffrey said, “He didn’t blink. He has a lot of confidence in himself, and I think it’s because of the work he’s put in. You can see it in his eyes.”
The touchdown pass to McCaffrey stretched the lead to 21-0. So when the 49ers took over at their own 9-yard line with 2:29 left in the first half, it would have been easy — maybe even smart — for Shanahan to ease off the gas. Avoid a costly mistake, trust the defense to smother Brady and head to the locker room ahead by three touchdowns.
Instead, after two McCaffrey runs, Purdy unleashed a laserbeam pass to Aiyuk for 25 yards: 14 on the throw and 11 more after
the catch. Those two players connected again for a 32-yard touchdown pass (28 on the throw, four after the catch), when Aiyuk beat his man with a great move accentuated by a Purdy pump fake.
His throw was short, in part because Purdy was about to get clobbered. But Aiyuk slowed down, caught the ball at the 4yard line and scampered into the end zone.
Suddenly, many of the questions about Purdy seemed to have encouraging answers. As defensive end Nick Bosa said after the game, with a touch of wonder in his voice, “We got a quarterback.”