For all he’s accomplished during his two seasons as an NFL quarterback, Brock Purdy had never led a fourth-quarter comeback. Until Saturday night.
With the rain coming down at Levi’s Stadium, Brock Purdy engineered a game-winning drive in the closing minutes to send the San Francisco 49ers back to the NFC championship game with a 24-21 victory over the upset-hungry Green Bay Packers in the divisional round.
Purdy joined the esteemed company of Joe Montana, Steve Young and Jeff Garcia as 49ers quarterbacks who’ve led game-winning drives in the playoffs.
And in doing so, Purdy successfully overcame the most mind-blowing stat of the night — it was the first football game in 31 games that the 49ers won under head coach Kyle Shanahan after trailing by seven or more points entering the fourth quarter.
Despite having an MVP-caliber season in which he led the league in several key passing categories, Purdy still has had his doubters, those who questioned whether he could be clutch in a big game.
But Purdy officially put those to rest with a 12-play, 69-yard game-winning drive that was nearly all his doing. Taking over with 5:11 left in the game and the 49ers trailing 21-17, Purdy completed six of seven passes for 47 yards, with the only incompletion being a rare George Kittle drop, and he added a key nine-yard scramble that set up Christian McCaffrey’s six-yard TD run to put the 49ers ahead for good with 1:07 left.
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Brock Purdy wasn’t always pretty against Packers
It certainly wasn’t the prettiest performance for Purdy, who completed 23-of-39 passes for 252 yards and one touchdown. The rain and the Packers’ pass rush both wreaked havoc on his throws, two of which should have been intercepted.
Plus, the loss of Deebo Samuel early to a shoulder injury also removed a key weapon from Purdy’s arsenal. Yet he still had plenty of All-Pro talent remaining, with Kittle, McCaffrey and receiver Brandon Aiyuk still healthy and on the field, so Purdy would have found no sympathy if he’d fallen short.
In the end, however, he outdueled Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love, who entered the game as the NFL’s hottest quarterback and had somehow engendered more faith than Purdy, even though Love was playing his first season as a starting quarterback.
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Brock Purdy outplays Jordan Love
Following the Purdy-led drive, Love had his opportunity for a magical come-from-behind ending. He had 1:07 on the clock and all three timeouts left — plenty of time and resources to at least put the Packers in field-goal range to tie the game. But 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw intercepted Love for the second time to end it.
Whether anyone beyond the 49ers and their fans will believe it, Purdy was the better quarterback, as he’s proven on the field in nearly every other non-Christmas day game this season.
And the only thing crazier than the thought that a former “Mr. Irrelevant” of the NFL draft could be the best quarterback on the field is if he could do that again over the next two games.