Virtually everything Brock Purdy does during his stint as the 49ers’ starter will be historic. The final pick in the draft is pretty rarely an impact player, and this season Purdy has become the first Mr. Irrelevant to throw a pass in the NFL and start a game under center. Thursday night, if he plays, he’ll have a chance to make some 49ers history though that doesn’t have to do with where he was drafted.
Purdy in Week 13 against the Dolphins tossed a pair of touchdown passes while relieving the injured Jimmy Garoppolo. Then he threw two more in his first start last week against the Buccaneers.
Per the 49ers, if Purdy, who’s questionable with oblique and rib injuries, throws two more touchdowns in Seattle he’ll be the first 49ers rookie QB since at least 1970 to throw two-plus TDs in three consecutive games.
That would certainly be an impressive feat from a big-picture perspective, but tossing a pair of touchdowns in Seattle would be impressive by itself.
The 49ers have only had nine games where their QB threw two TD passes in Seattle since 1976 when Jim Plunkett became the first San Francisco quarterback to do it.
Garoppolo last did it in 2021, and Nick Mullens did it in 2018 and 2020. Before that no 49ers QB had done it since Alex Smith in 2009.
While it’s become more frequent for 49ers quarterbacks to have success finding the end zone through the air in Seattle, there’s a more troubling trend that’s taken place over that time that Purdy will need to reverse. While Garoppolo, Mullens and Smith have all tossed a pair of TDs in Seattle since 2009, none have come away with a victory.
Smith’s two-TD game in Week 15 of the 2006 season helped thee 49ers take home a 24-14 victory from the Pacific Northwest. That was the last time a 49ers QB earned a win in Seattle while notching multiple touchdown passes.
Purdy could also become the first 49ers first-year QB to win at Seattle. Alex Smith and Ken Dorsey both started there in 2004 and 2005 and lost by a combined score of 75-3. Nick Mullens also lost there in 2018 by a final score of 43-16.
San Francisco will take a win any way it can get one since a victory would mean they clinch the NFC West, but Purdy making more history would be a nice cherry on top.
