The Brock Purdy slander can not be tolerated any longer. Many critics and football analysts have underestimated Purdy’s playing ability on the 49ers, but he is a crucial factor on this offense and the team overall. He and the 49ers might’ve lost this game, but they put up one hell of a fight until the end.
Many people have looked over Purdy when talking about quarterbacks like Tua Tagovaila, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson. Patrick Mahomes faced each of those quarterbacks this postseason, and none of them played as well as Purdy played in the Super Bowl, the biggest game in America. Purdy threw for 255 yards and one touchdown while throwing 60.5% on 38 passing attempts. He finished the game with a passer rating of 89.3.
The only quarterback to come close to those stats was Jackson. He threw for 272 yards and one touchdown on a completion rate of 54.1%. His passer rating finished at 75.5. Jackson did throw an interception, though, which ended up costing them the game.
On the other hand, Brock took care of the ball, not turning it over. He made precise and explosive throws when needed. Many have shared that the weapons on the 49ers, like Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel, usually carry him. I beg to differ, considering he even made some great throws to receivers who aren’t his usual main targets, like Chris Conley and Ray-Ray McCloud III. You can’t change the fact that he has some great athletes surrounding him, which can help him, but nonetheless, he has held up his own weight. Purdy has even been getting comfortable leaving the pocket and rushing on occasion when needed.
People can argue that if there was a Lamar Jackson or another quarterback with higher skill, they could’ve won, but sports are not played on would’ve, could’ve, and should’ve. These are the cards that have been dealt, and there can’t be any comparisons on the what-ifs. All it does is just make people misinterpret what the reality can be. If that was the case when Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and James Harden were all on the same team, many people genuinely believed they’d win the NBA Finals. It didn’t go anywhere though, because the chemistry just wasn’t there.
I understand Mahomes beat every quarterback I listed, but Purdy is only in his second year and gave Mahomes a run for his money. This was Mahome’s first Super Bowl game where he went into overtime and his second postseason game going into overtime overall. The first overtime game was against Joe Burrow and the Bengals, where they handed Mahomes his second AFC Championship loss next to Tom Brady. These two elite quarterbacks are still the only ones to defeat Mahomes in the postseason, so it is impressive for Purdy to test the Chiefs like he did in year two. He still has time to develop; with this 49ers’ team, they can build something extraordinary. Purdy hasn’t accomplished all that he needs to be considered a great quarterback, but he deserves his respect.
