Maybe now, Brock Purdy will get mentioned as one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks after his performance against Dallas on Sunday.
Purdy, the last player selected in the 2022 draft, outplayed Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott, and San Francisco humiliated the Cowboys before a national TV audience.
San Francisco 42, Dallas 10.
The 49ers scored the game’s final 28 points.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever felt feeling this good just with the offense and everything as a whole. I can’t really think of a time,” Purdy said after the game. “There’s some good games we played back to back to back games in college, but right now, yeah, it feels like everyone’s just on a mission. Like the mindset is right where it needs to be. Everyone’s so detailed in what they do. The play calls are great. So, it’s like all I have to do is go out there and do my job and that’s it and just play ball. Obviously, we feel good where we’re at, but there’s still areas we can still get better at.”
The 49ers outgained Dallas, 421-197, while also limiting Dallas to eight first downs and zero trips to the red zone.
Prescott threw three interceptions — Dallas turned it over four times — and kept the ball for less than 23 minutes.
Purdy was sensational, completing 21 of 24 passes for 252 yards and four touchdowns. The 49ers also ran for 170 yards and dominated the Cowboys physically at the line of scrimmage.
It’s the 49ers third straight win against Dallas. The 49ers beat Dallas 23-17 in an NFC wild-card game in 2021 and 19-12 in the NFC Divisional Round last season.
“Didn’t see it coming,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “Put everything into this and got punched in the mouth. It was humbling a couple of weeks ago against Arizona. But this may be the most humbling game I’ve ever been a part of. Felt good about the preparation, felt good about everything honestly coming into this game, and they beat us in every aspect.”
Miami Dolphins offense finds its groove again
After a week-long hiatus, the Miami Dolphins’ turbo-charged speed offense is back.
Tua Tagovailoa passed for 308 yards, Tyreek Hill had 181 yards receiving, and De’Von Achane had 151 yards rushing, including a 76-yard touchdown run.
“It’s real-deal speed, and that was the deciding factor,” New York Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke said after the game. “Explosive plays won them the game. I thought we played good defense in spurts, but we’ve got to play a full game.”
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Miami totaled 530 yards — 308 passing and 222 rushing — on just 54 plays.
The Dolphins finally overwhelmed the Giants in the third quarter, pushing Miami’s lead to 31-13 on a two-yard run by Rasheed Mostert on the final play of the third quarter.
New England Patriots offense hits new low
The New England Patriots’ listless offense, a unit devoid of playmakers, is among the league’s worst.
New Orleans 34, New England 0.
It marked the first time the Patriots have been shut out at home since 1993. It was the first time they’d been shut out in Gillette Stadium.
“Obviously, it was a poor performance here today,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said after the game. “Slow start. We just couldn’t get the game under control.”
Last week, Dallas handed Belichick the worst loss of his coaching career. New Orleans handed him the second worst.
The Patriots totaled just 156 yards and eight first downs. They were 1 for 14 on third down.
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Quarterback Mac Jones was benched for the second consecutive week.
“We don’t want to score zero points. It’s not the goal,” Jones said after the game. “We didn’t score any points. That’s the important part: scoring points.”
Belichick has no one to blame but himself. He’s been poor at assembling talent, believing that schemes trump players.
At this rate, New England will have a top-five pick. The question is whether Belichick will be the coach.
Zack Moss outruns Jonathan Taylor
Indianapolis Colts running back Zack Moss didn’t care that running back Jonathan Taylor signed a new $42-million deal with the Colts on Friday.
Moss rushed for 165 yards — his second 100-yard game this season — as the Colts beat the Titans 23-16.
Moss, averaging 111.2 yards per game and 3.8 per carry, carried the ball 26 times Sunday. His 56-yard touchdown helped the Colts start fast, and his three-yard run finished the job.
Taylor, who spent the first four weeks on the physically unable-to-perform list, carried six times for 18 yards. He also caught a 16-yard pass.
Moss has been so good it makes you wonder why the Colts felt compelled to make Taylor one of the NFL’s highest-paid runners.
Watch out for the Detroit Lions
It’s time to take the Detroit Lions seriously.
They’re the best team in the NFC North, and they’re beating the teams they should beat the way they should beat them — and they’ve taken on the personality of coach Dan Campbell.
They play with energy, and they’re physical.
They wiped out winless Carolina, 42-28, leading 35-10 in the third quarter.
The Lions (4-1) are alone atop the division in October or later for the first time since 2016, and they have won 12 of their last 15 games.
“You know what I love? When you guys indirectly tell your coach, ‘Coach, (expletive) relax. We got it. We got it, alright.’ That’s exactly what you guys did out there. You know what good teams do?” Campbell said in the locker room after the game. “They don’t give a (expletive) who they play, and they don’t care about the environment, who’s playing for them, who’s playing for us, what the records are. When you smell competition, you show up, and you guys just proved it again today,”
Jared Goff threw for 236 yards and three touchdowns, and David Montgomery ran for 109 yards.
Mike Tomlin has the Pittsburgh Steelers marching on
Say what you want about Mike Tomlin, but his teams play hard, and they’re relentless.
It’s why they beat Baltimore and kept themselves in the middle of the AFC North race.
They trailed 10-3 entering the fourth quarter, but a blocked punt for a safety served as a catalyst for the comeback.
George Pickens, their best offensive weapon, caught six passes for 130 yards, including a key 41-yard touchdown pass.
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No Saquon Barkley a major loss for New York Giants
This much we have figured out about Daniel Jones: he can’t function without Saquon Barkley.
Jones passed for 119 yards before leaving with a neck injury. He will have an MRI to determine the injury’s severity.
“Got a lot of good guys with the right mindset,” Giants coach Brian Daboll said after the game. “We’re not putting it together in terms of the results we’re looking for. It’s certainly disappointing to lose. But you go back, you look at the stuff, move on, and that’s what you have to do.”
New York Jets win one for OC Nathaniel Hackett
This season has gone from bad to worse for Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton.
After trashing former Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett in training camp, the current New York Jets offensive coordinator got his revenge.
The Jets ended a three-game losing streak with a 31-21 win over Payton’s Broncos, who are a 21-point comeback from being winless.
“You know, it feels good to get a win in the league against anybody,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. ”But it was a special game for Hack, obviously, being here a year ago. We racked up over 400 yards on them and put up 31 points.”
Breece Hall gained 177 yards.
“He stayed quiet, he stayed humble, respectful,” Hall said of Hackett. “So we wanted to come in and get a win today for him, and we did that.
“Better coach, better team, won.”
Payton deflected questions about the situation after the game.
“It’s a fair question, but I think we already addressed that the next day. All right, thank you guys,” he said.
Jean-Jacques Taylor is an NFL Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.