SANTA CLARA, Calif. — PURDY GOT GAME!!!!!!!!!
That is the tweet NBA superstar LeBron James sent out as Brock Purdy, the 49ers’ sudden superstar, closed out a 41-23 win in his playoff debut against the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday.
“Lebron said that? Oh, that’s sweet. That’s awesome,” Purdy responded afterward.
Left tackle Trent Williams, Purdy’s blind-side protector, isn’t jealous at the praise Purdy is drawing seven games — seven wins — since replacing an injured Jimmy Garoppolo, when the 49ers’ season could have taken a drastic U-turn.
“I love the fact Brock is getting the attention he deserves,” Williams said. “He is a good player, man. Anybody who watches football can see that.
“I’m not saying he is the next Aaron Rodgers or Pat Mahomes, but he does everything we need him to do, and more. We can continue to win with him, obviously.”
The 49ers (14-4) have won 11 straight. Three more and they’ll raise their first Lombardi Trophy since the 1994 season. Purdy was born in 1999, so states his bio way back on Page 402 of the team’s media guide.
His 332 passing yards were third-most in 49ers playoff history, topped only by Joe Montana (357 yards in Super Bowl XXIII, 347 yard in January 1984 NFC Championship Game).
His rookie year escalated from the draft’s Mr. Irrelevant to training-camp long shot to QB3 to QB2 to Mr. Invincible.
“Brock did a really good job staying alive,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “I don’t know why we couldn’t sack the guy. We chased him all over the place and he’s not noted for being the greatest scrambler, but he looked like Fran Tarkenton out there today.”
Winning his first start against Tom Brady, his first road game in prime time at Seattle, his first comeback in Las Vegas’ raucous den, and, now his first playoff game has teammates insisting they’re not surprised anymore by Purdy’s success. “I could feel his confidence in the huddle, and that felt like old Brock,” tight end George Kittle said.
More on Old Brock Purdy can be found below as we delve into the 10 things that caught my eye in the 49ers’ weekly win:
10. SHANAHAN’S ‘BRILLIANCE’
It’s the playoffs, so when the 49ers blew a 10-point lead, it conjured flashbacks of the 2019 team’s Super Bowl exit and last season’s NFC Championship Game fade. Is Shanahan snakebit, some wonder? His team had time to recover Saturday and did so in splendid fashion.
“He’s the most brilliant offensive mind that the game has to offer, and he has some of the most dangerous weapons that the game has to offer,” said Williams, who began his career in 2010 with Shanahan in Washington.
It’s not just the X’s and O’s, as Williams praised how Shanahan “reads players” so well, how he meticulously studies opponents to find their tendencies. He also lives vicariously through them. When they were irate that Johnathan Abram tugged late at Deebo Samuel’s ankle, Shanahan said he “borderline blacked out” at how mad he got, too. “The playmakers that the front office has put at his disposal, that’s probably an offensive coach’s dream,” Williams added.
Shanahan now has five postseason wins, matching Jim Harbaugh for third-most in 49ers coaching history. That is half as many as Bill Walsh and George Seifert en route to their collection of five Lombardi Trophies.
9. McCAFFREY’S RETURN
McCaffrey had to wait a series before getting his first playoff touch since his 2017 rookie season in Carolina, and he responded with a 68-yard run. He capped that drive with a 3-yard touchdown catch — on a play-action fake to him out of the backfield.
McCaffrey (119 yards on 15 carries, 17 yards on two catches) called it “damn fun” to win a playoff game at home, all as he adapts to an offense he joined three moths ago. “A lot of times you’re playing against the tape. You want to just put good things on tape,” McCaffrey said. “You want to wake up Monday morning, and when you watch it on the iPad, you want to be proud of what you put out there. There’s always stuff – ‘I might have made wrong cut here or did the wrong thing here.’ That’s what makes football so fun, that constant pursuit for perfection. Everyone on our team has that.”
Added Williams: “Ever since he stepped on the field with us, it’s made us more dangerous.”
8. CORNERBACKS RESPOND
Jimmie Ward should not have hammered Geno Smith as he slid to draw a penalty that led to a 56-yard field goal and halftime deficit.
Charvarius Ward should not have let D.K. Metcalf get past him for a 50-yard touchdown catch.
Deommodore Lenoir should not have, well, he gave up a few catches early on that didn’t help matters.
But all three of those cornerbacks responded positively one way or another. Lenoir made a great interception to highlight his NFL playoff debut, and Charvarius Ward broke up another potential touchdown grab to Metcalf (who did eventually get another).
“We don’t freak out when we give up the big play,” Shanahan said, speaking for his team, not a freaked-out fan base.
7. AIYUK’S BLOCK
Brandon Aiyuk’s breakout season continued into the playoffs, and not just because of his three big gains near midfield (19 yards, 23, 31) before halftime. When Aiyuk blocked on Deebo Samuel’s 74-yard touchdown for a 38-17 lead, teammates noticed.
“People don’t do that. Receivers don’t do that. That’s a huge play in the moment that people aren’t talking about,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “That’s why I know he’ll be a big-time player in the league for a long time, because he’ll do the little things to play at a high level.”
Aiyuk was apologetic to Purdy when he dropped potentially the rookie’s fourth touchdown pass. Purdy would have none of that talk. “I was excited we had a scramble drill on and he kept it alive. I was, ‘Dude, that was good,’ ” Purdy said. “He’s hard on himself and said, ‘Man, I should have caught it. It hit my hands.’ It’s all good, man. I love that dude. He blocked for Deebo on that long touchdown. B.A. gives everything for this team.”
6. MUDDERS WITH NO MUD
Kudos to the groundskeeper Matt Greiner and his crew (and reportedly the Seahawks, too) for making rainy weather a non-issue on what could have been a muddy track. The 49ers did not put a tarp over the grass until Thursday night, after the end zones were painted red as a historical nod to past playoff games.
After an overnight downpour that carried over to Saturday morning, sporadic showers during the game didn’t distract the 49ers. “I didn’t really notice it. It would rain and stop, but honestly I didn’t even think about it,” linebacker Dre Greenlaw said. “I slipped one time on the goal line. But I was still able to make the play.”
The 49ers also emerged relatively healthy, aside from ankle injuries to defensive end Samson Ebukam and wide receiver Jauan Jennings.
5. RACKING UP POINTS
Only five other playoff games in 49ers history have seen them score more than the season-high 41 points they put on the Seahawks. The 49ers scored 55 and 49 points in the two most recent Super Bowl wins (1989, ’94 seasons), and this team looks capable of doing more damage.
In this 11-game win streak, the 49ers have scored over 30 points in eight games, and this was the sixth time they’ve done so in Purdy’s seven games since relieving an injured Jimmy Garoppolo.
Williams’ explanation for it: “Just good, complementary football. The defense got a turnover and we made points out of it. When they made a stop, we got points. It’s a whole team effort when you light up the scoreboard.”
4. OMENIHU’S PLAY
Omenihu delivered the defensive play of the game when, on third-and-14 from the 49ers’ 19-yard line, he sacked Smith and forced a fumble that Bosa recovered, all of which preserved a lead (23-17) the 49ers had just reclaimed. A few plays earlier, Smith escaped Omenihu’s clutches on a near-sack.
“Those type of plays in the playoffs, when you miss that, it can weigh on you,” Omenihu said. “… I had to re-center my mind. Coach told me another opportunity would come and it did.”
Omenihu, who had 1 1/2 sacks in the 49ers’ playoff-opening win at Dallas last season, took a seat on the bench after this game’s heroics, and when the video board displayed an image of Nick Bosa, he pointed to Omenihu sitting next to him.
“Bosa’s a team guy,” Omenihu said. “He’s an incredible player but also is unselfish. He said yesterday and today that he doesn’t care who gets it done, he just wants to win. That energy goes around toward everybody.”
Bosa, after a NFL-best 18 1/2 sacks in the regular season, had no sacks and no hits on Smith. Omenihu finished with two sacks, and Arik Armstead had a sack on the game’s first third-down play.
3. WE GOT YOUR BACK
“It wasn’t the smartest move,” Warner said of when Seahawks safety Johnathan Abram tugged and twisted Samuel’s left ankle after a 21-yard, catch-and-run to the Seahawks’ 16-yard line.
Samuel stayed down on the ground, not just in pain but to avoid losing his temper.
“I don’t know why you’d want to piss off Deebo,” George Kittle said. “But if you’re going to do that to him, you’re going to piss off Trent Williams, who’s one of the scariest people on a football field. You’re going to fire up our defense and get our entire team fired up. They gave us another reason to flip the switch even higher, and that’s what we did.”
Five plays later, the 49ers took the lead with a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Purdy, who said the team rallied around Samuel and “showed Deebo we got his back.”
Related Articles
• San Francisco 49ers | 49ers report card: Offensive onslaught produces 41-23 wild-card win
• San Francisco 49ers | Photos: 49ers win Wild Card playoff
• San Francisco 49ers | Kurtenbach: Brock Purdy’s bounce-back second half vs. Seattle proved again that he’s no ordinary rookie quarterback
• San Francisco 49ers | McCaffrey-Deebo attack in full effect for 49ers and its too much for Seahawks and Johnathan Abram
• San Francisco 49ers | ‘The football gods were smiling on us’: Rain stays away from 49ers’ playoff win vs. Seahawks
This was made for a storybook turning point. But, honestly, when you’re headed toward a blowout of an overmatched opponent, let’s not overhype it. “It’s playoff football, man. A lot of tempers are flaring and it’s intense,” Williams said. “I don’t know if that sparked everything but it dang sure lit a fire, especially under Deebo.”
2. PURDY’S MOBILITY
What’s made Purdy such a fascinating watch is his escapability. He’ll contort his 6-foot-1 body to get out of the pocket and buy time to unleash a last-ditch pass. It worked for a 7-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Mitchell to take command with 14:02 to go.
“It’s great to see the things he does back there, when you think he’s sacked and his slitheriness to get out of stuff,” Samuel said. “It kind of makes us a little tired, because we’ve got to run around and try to get open, but it worked. So as long as Brock’s doing his thing, we’re going to ride with him.”
Before rightfully praising that mobility, it’s worth noting how he put himself and the 49ers’ playoff hopes in a hazardous spot on a fourth-quarter scramble. Purdy spent 12 seconds rolling to his right before unleashing that near-touchdown pass to Aiyuk, only for Purdy to get drilled by Quinton Jefferson into the left ribs Purdy broke just last month.
Purdy called it a clean hit, but added: “It was one of those situations where, man, if we can get one more touchdown and put the final nail in the coffin … but a field goal was just as good. I have to be smart and throw it away if it’s not there.”
1. WHO’S GOT NEXT
The 49ers maintain they’re not surprised by Purdy, and Williams’ rationale Saturday was that the Seahawks were a familiar foe who Purdy just faced last month.
Well, the 49ers’ next opponent won’t be a stranger, either.
If the Minnesota Vikings win Sunday against the New York Giants, they’ll advance to visit the 49ers. Back in August, the Vikings hosted the 49ers in joint practices before their exhibition game. As the Vikings seemed to dominate those practices — aside from Bosa’s sneak preview to his dominant season — the 49ers’ offense wasn’t showing all its cards.
If the Vikings lose, then the 49ers will likely play next Sunday against the winner of Monday night’s winner, between the Dallas Cowboys and the host Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Last year, the 49ers eliminated the Cowboys 23-17 in the wild-card round. Last month, the 49ers beat Tom Brady and the Bucs 35-7 at Levi’s Stadium.
“Whoever we play, that’ll be who we prep hard for,” Warner said. “It’s all about taking one game at a time. We talk about the end game but you don’t get there unless you win one, and I’m proud of the guys we won one today.”
