Getty Sam Darnold (center), 49ers backup quarterback behind Brock Purdy
It was not exactly a star showing on Sunday in Week 18 for San Francisco 49ers quarterback Sam Darnold. He was making his first start of the season, filling in as the 49ers sought to keep Brock Purdy out of the firing line and injury-free ahead of the start of the playoffs in two weeks. He finished with 189 yards passing and 16 completions on 26 attempts plus a touchdown for a 96.5 quarterback rating in the 49ers’ 21-20 loss to the Rams.
If what coach Kyle Shanahan wanted to see from Darnold was the ability to run the offense in case of a Purdy injury, he got it. The team was efficient in the first half before rolling out some deep reserves in the second. That’s the assessment of 49ers insider David Lombardi at The Athletic.
“The 49ers just wanted to see relatively steady, mistake-free execution of their system from Sam Darnold when most of their primary players were in, and he delivered that,” Lombardi wrote. “They signed him to be at least somewhat insulated from a potential injury to Brock Purdy in the postseason, and it does appear that the 49ers have respectable depth at quarterback thanks to Darnold. That’s all a team can ask for.”
Brock Purdy Injury Devastated 49ers Last Year
It is not much of a stretch to imagine what might happen to the 49ers should Purdy suffer an injury in the playoffs. It happened, of course, in last year’s NFC championship game, when Purdy had to leave because of a severe elbow injury. The 49ers were not prepared, only having 36-year-old journeyman Josh Johnson (who suffered a concussion) behind Purdy.
San Francisco 49ers are cooked. Now Josh Johnson is hurt. Brock Purdy is back in, but probably can’t throw. Christian McCaffrey is the emergency quarterback 😩
The results were, predictably, disastrous. The 49ers could not move the ball and the Eagles drubbed them, 31-7. This time, though, if there is a Brock Purdy injury, the 49ers have Darnold on hand.
“Like I said, it was just good to get out there and play football,” Sam Darnold said in his postgame press conference, per 49ers Web Zone. “It’s been a while. Obviously, I had a little bit of time in Baltimore, but just to get out there and play football, it was just good to get out there and if they do need me during the playoff run, I’ll be ready.”
Sam Darnold Led 4 Productive 1st-Half Drives
Darnold did acknowledge that the first half went much better than the second half. He started off by leading the 49ers on a touchdown drive, and came back with another touchdown drive to follow. He led another drive that led to a missed field goal by Jake Moody before closing the half with yet another touchdown drive that ended in a (costly, it turned out) Moody missed extra point.
49ers Highlights vs Rams – Sunday, 1/7 Week 18!
Sam Darnold vs Carson Wentz actually put on quite the game on Sunday to end the regular season!
“We got in a really good rhythm those first couple drives,” Darnold said. “That second half just couldn’t sustain rhythm or drives. They went on a couple long drives as well, but we’ve got to do something there to get that rhythm back.”
While the Sam Darnold Week 18 show resulted in a loss and only so-so numbers, he did make Kyle Shanahan happy and, really, that is all that matters.
“I thought Sam did some real good things,” Shanahan said. “He made a number of plays that kept us out there. He did a great job scrambling, he was awesome on his sneaks. The quarterback draw. I think he moved the chains one other time with his legs, made some big throws. That last play was unfortunate, just stepping up in the pocket there and those guys coming from behind him with the fumble. I was happy with Sam today.”
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49ers’ Sam Darnold ‘Delivered’ in Brock Purdy Relief: Insider