Purdy ‘playing as good as it gets’; 49ers eye 1-seed

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — On a night when the San Francisco 49ers were without All-Pro tight end George Kittle and had All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams for one snap, the weight of their playoff positioning fell on quarterback Brock Purdy.

Purdy was up to the challenge. Behind his five total touchdowns (three passing, two rushing), the Niners outlasted the Chicago Bears 42-38 in a wild shootout on “Sunday Night Football.” It’s the first time San Francisco has scored 40-plus points in back-to-back games since November 1995.

The 49ers improved to 12-4 and will host the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday night with the NFC West division title, the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs and home-field advantage throughout the postseason on the line. That could mean even more for the Niners with Super Bowl LX set to be played at Levi’s Stadium.

To achieve any of those goals, the Niners will look to Purdy to continue performing like one of the league’s best and most efficient quarterbacks.

“It’s his best [football] right now,” 49ers right tackle Colton McKivitz said. “And it’s when his best is needed. This is what this team needs is this offense to come in and score and score a lot. … The way he’s playing, it’s awesome. To have a leader like that go and command the huddle and playing at that level, it’s a great confidence builder for us.”

Though Purdy has had some hot streaks since taking over as San Francisco’s starting quarterback in 2022, he’s arguably playing better than ever now on a team that doesn’t have the skill position star power of his previous rosters.

Purdy’s importance was on display Sunday night in a game that nearly came down to which team had the ball last. After throwing a pick-6 on the first play of the game, Purdy rebounded with a nearly flawless effort. He finished 24-of-33 for 303 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. He also had 6 carries for 28 yards and 2 more scores.

After throwing five touchdown passes in Monday night’s win against the Indianapolis Colts, Purdy has accounted for at least five TDs in two consecutive games. He’s the first Niners quarterback to accomplish that feat and one of six quarterbacks ever to do it in at least two consecutive games, joining Tom Brady (2007), Russell Wilson (2020), Deshaun Watson (2017), Ben Roethlisberger (2014) and Daunte Culpepper (2004).

Purdy also became the first 49ers quarterback with at least three passing and two rushing touchdowns in a game since Jeff Garcia did it against the Cardinals in Week 14 of 2003. Of his 33 pass attempts, Purdy had just two off-target throws against Chicago.

“I thought Brock had a hell of a game,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Brock has been playing his ass off, made some huge plays in this game. Kept some drives alive with his legs, made some off-schedule plays, and he’s an assassin out there … he’s playing as good as it gets right now.”

Plenty of numbers support the idea that Purdy is playing as well as any NFL quarterback since he returned in Week 11 from a right big toe injury. Since Week 11, Purdy ranks third in the NFL in QBR (80.0) and touchdown passes per game (2.67), second in completion percentage over expectation (7.5%), ninth in passing yards per game (242.3), fifth in yards per attempt (7.9) and has the lowest off-target throw percentage in the league (10.3%).

Purdy’s improved recognition of when to use his legs to gain yards and create space to throw has been at the heart of his success. That was on full display during his third-quarter touchdown pass to Kyle Juszczyk. Purdy evaded multiple defenders and found Juszczyk alone in the end zone on a play Shanahan said made him “extremely nervous” then “extremely happy.”

“It’s just one of those things where it’s football, and it’s going to happen,” Purdy said. “How can I be smart outside of the design of the play but also have my eyes downfield because guys are moving and working, and there are explosive plays out there. I feel like it’s something that I sort of continue to learn as I go. It’s part of my game.”

Purdy and the 49ers have a second consecutive short week of preparation before Saturday’s showdown with the Seahawks. Just like in 2019, the NFC’s top seed will come down to a meeting against Seattle in the regular-season finale with significant playoff stakes. The 49ers won that game in 2019, when linebacker Dre Greenlaw tackled Seahawks tight end Jacob Hollister at the 1 as time expired to send the 49ers to victory and, eventually, an appearance in Super Bowl LIV.

Though Shanahan wasn’t thrilled with having another short week after the NFL announced the schedule Sunday night, he made sure his team was aware of what’s at stake in Week 18.

“It’s huge,” Shanahan said. “So proud of the guys throughout the whole year, proud of today. It’s a hell of a deal being able to have the opportunity to play for the 1-seed, and these guys have earned it.”