It wasn’t so way back there have been these among the many fan base and the media brazenly questioning if giving Brock Purdy a five-year contract value a most of $265 million was the appropriate factor to do.
These numbers proceed to dwindle as Purdy gave a grasp class on how one can play quarterback earlier than a Monday Night time Soccer nationwide viewers in a 48-27 highway victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
Rivers was good. Purdy was nice. In all probability as nice as he’s ever been. Definitely one of the best he’s been this season. And he did it in a very completely different type than his scramble-mode win over Tennessee the earlier week.
This was Purdy at his dart-throwing greatest, finishing 25 of 34 passes for 295 yards and 5 touchdowns, the primary time any 49ers quarterback has ever completed it on a Monday evening and the primary since Joe Montana in 1990 to do it within the common season. (Steve Younger had six in Tremendous Bowl XXIX.)
“They had Philip Rivers and he gave them some momentum over there, so it was a huge win for us,” Purdy mentioned.
Purdy, who had a head chilly all week, was sniffling in between solutions however away from thoughts when it got here to working Kyle Shanahan’s offense and making all the appropriate selections.
He might need made simply two questionable throws all evening, and one among them is a nit-pick as a result of it resulted in a 23-yard acquire to Skyy Moore the place if he’d led Extra additional to the surface, it may have been an even bigger play. The second was an overthrow to Kendrick Bourne late that was deflected off Bourne’s fingers and intercepted by Cam Bynum when the sport was determined.
“Got on him for a couple of missed throws but it was pretty close to a perfect game,” Shanahan mentioned.
There you’ve gotten it. Perfection doesn’t actually exist in Shanahan’s thoughts, however on this case he was virtually keen to make an exception.
The 49ers are on a five-game win streak and are 11-4. If they’ll beat two extra playoff-bound groups, Chicago (11-4) and Seattle (12-3), they’ll be the No. 1 seed within the NFC, have a first-round bye and have an opportunity to play the Tremendous Bowl of their dwelling stadium on Feb. 8.
However this season’s 49ers workforce was lectured from the begin to again off on the Tremendous Bowl speak after final yr’s 6-11 debacle and as a substitute work on merely turning into a very good workforce that will get higher each week. The primary time Shanahan even talked about the playoffs was at a Sunday evening assembly after the 49ers clinched a spot in what he calls “the tournament.”
Purdy continues to be considering that method.
Christian McCaffrey (23) catches one among his two landing receptions Monday evening towards the Indianapolis Colts for the 49ers at Lucas Oil Stadium. A.P. Photograph
“We can’t get our minds wrapped around that,” Purdy mentioned. “We have to handle business and play a really good team in Chicago next week at our place. We have to be locked in. We have to watch this film. We have to get better.”
To be truthful, it wasn’t as if the Colts put a ton of stress on Purdy, and their secondary is brief cornerbacks Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward, so there was a fish-in-a-barrel aspect to his excellence.
However with Rivers (23-for-35, 277 yards, two touchdowns, one interception) stunning the 49ers by going downfield greater than anticipated after taking part in it near the vest towards Seattle, Purdy needed to be on high of his sport.
His first sport with 5 landing passes went to 4 completely different receivers — 22 yards to Demarcus Robinson, 2 yards to Christian McCaffrey, 11 yards to George Kittle, 3 yards to Jauan Jennings and 9 yards to McCaffrey. Their first eight drives have been landing, landing, landing, area purpose, missed area purpose and landing.
They have been excelling in each method, with the offensive line dominating and McCaffrey dashing for 117 yards on 21 carries and the 49ers getting 145 on 31 makes an attempt total.
Oh, and the missed area purpose got here from 64 yards simply earlier than halftime when Eddy Piñeiro hit the crossbar.
The 49ers even closed issues out with a defensive rating, as Dee Winters accurately learn a Rivers go, intercepted it an returned it 75 yards for a landing.
Earlier than Purdy’s late interception, the 49ers had scored on 16 of 19 drives. Punter Thomas Morstead hasn’t been wanted since at Nov. 30 win at Cleveland. The 49ers have run 152 offensive performs since then with Morstead a spectator.
None of that’s a part of the plan as a lot because it’s a part of the Purdy course of.
“I think it’s just putting pressure on myself,” Purdy mentioned. “Every drive I got out there I’m like, ‘Hey, man, let’s go out and play one play at a time, and every play has a life of its own. It’s putting pressure on yourself to be detailed, to do the fundamentals right and living with that kind of mindset. Instead of just saying, `Let’s get into a rhythm here,’ it’s actually taking action in that.”
Purdy’s teammates have felt his confidence rise since getting back from a turf toe damage that value him seven video games and elevated Mac Jones to savior standing because the NFL’s high backup.
“He’s resilient, and he has a certain peace about him now to where he can’t get rattled,” left sort out Trent Williams mentioned on the ESPN post-game desk with Scott Van Pelt. “He’s just really confident in his ability, really confident in his game it seeps out of his pores and the whole offense can feel it. He’s our leader and we follow him.”
Kittle, who had seven catches for 115 yards earlier than leaving with an ankle damage (he says it’s not a dreaded “high” ankle sprain) preferred the thought of Purdy taking part in a special type than he did the earlier week and doing what it took to win.
“I think he’s operating at an incredibly high level,” Kittle mentioned. “I mean, he did a lot less running around. He’s got a bunch of different elements to his game that allows him to be a really good quarterback. I told you guys we’re going to go as far as our offense takes us, and if our offense is putting up 40ish points and then we get a pick six at the end too, that’s really helpful.”
Purdy received a second after the sport was over to speak with Rivers and described it to ESPN.
“He’s a legend in the NFL, and for him to come back and rip it like he has and score a bunch of points, I told him it was an honor to be out on the field with him,” Purdy mentioned.
On this evening, Rivers may have mentioned the identical factor to Purdy. He was that good.
