San Francisco lost 27-24 in Week 3 due to a last-second Rams field goal, despite the 49ers boasting a 14-0 advantage halfway through the first quarter. However, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy put on an incredible performance despite missing multiple offensive weapons. Purdy completed 22 of 30 passes for 292 yards and threw three touchdowns on the night.
Purdy showed his mobility and flexibility with ten rushing attempts for 41 yards. His only fault was one fumble, but secured a passer rating of 137 without his key offensive weapons of Deebo Samuel, George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey.
Is Brock Purdy elite despite 49ers loss?
Despite the loss, former San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman has praised Purdy’s performance against the Los Angeles Rams. Sherman heaped praise on Purdy on his latest podcast episode, dubbing him an “one of the top-five quarterbacks in the NFL”.
“I thought this was a statement game for Brock Purdy because they say: ‘He can’t do it without his weapons.’ ‘What is he going to do when [George] Kittle is out?’ ‘What is he going to do when Deebo [Samuel] is out?’ ‘What is he going to do if Christian McCaffrey …’ Well, all three of them [were] out. He threw for almost 300 [yards], three touchdowns and no interceptions. He ran the ball 41 yards. He’s a good quarterback, he’s an elite quarterback. I say he’s one of the top-five quarterbacks in the [NFL].”
Richard Sherman on Brock Purdy’s play against the Rams:
“I thought this was a statement game for Brock Purdy because they say he can’t do it without his weapons… He threw for almost 300 yards, 3 touchdowns, no interceptions and ran the ball for 41 yards. He’s a good… pic.twitter.com/qOkHXrxS1Z
— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) September 23, 2024
“And if you give him the same criticism, then please give it to Joe Burrow. Please give it to every quarterback that you think is elite that has not played that way; because he’s playing that way and you don’t want to give him credit.”
Sherman believes that Purdy is still overlooked by the media and fans because of his draft pick status. It is common knowledge that Purdy was selected as the No. 262 and the final pick of the 2022 NFL draft, providing him with the “Mr. Irrelevant” tag.
Yet in the one and a half seasons as a starter, Purdy was a key factor in taking the San Francisco 49ers to the 2022 NFC Championship Game and 2023 Super Bowl.
Purdy proves to be a good leader in defeat
The Rams recovered from a 10-point deficit to secure 13 unanswered points in their victory in Week 3.
However, with the 49ers attempting to seal the game, Purdy threw a pinpoint pass to wide receiver Ronnie Bell with one minute left on the clock. Unfortunately for the team, Bell was unable to catch it. If Bell caught it, San Francisco would have been in field goal range which a chance to put the game to bed. Yet despite that shortcoming, Purdy showed why he is one of the leaders on this 49ers’ team.
“He’s a young guy. I love him, man,” Purdy said post-game. “And we all got Ronnie’s back, so we’re going to continue to need him and build him up and we’re all in this together, man. It’s a team sport, man. So it’s not one player, one play here. It’s all of them all put together.”
Purdy’s ability as a quarterback is unquestionable; and his desire to continuously improve even when he has a near perfect game shows that each team will see him as a threat.
“By the time I got to him [Bell], I think I was trying to give him a chance and I don’t know if I had enough juice on it from where I was at the pocket so just trying to give him a chance and obviously I think I could have given him a better ball. There are some plays for sure that I can think of myself where I still need to be better. We have to have the mindset of going and taking it every Sunday and [that] nothing is going to be given to us.”
While Purdy didn’t downplay the loss, Brock suggested that the 49ers are far from panic mode this early in the season.
“Obviously it’s early in the season but still every game matters. So we are just going to take one day at a time and not freak out about anything, but at the same time zone in on stuff that we could be better at and actually get better and that starts tomorrow.”
Sitting at a 1-2 record entering Week 4, San Francisco just needs to play well while their starters recoup from injury. A lot of that will be decided by quarterback Brock Purdy, who will look to lead the 49ers into yet another playoff berth this season.
