Getty 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy won his eight-consecutive start on Thursday.
While San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy threw for 310 yards and 2 touchdowns, it will not satisfy head coach Kyle Shanahan in the endless pursuit of gridiron excellence.
“It definitely wasn’t his best game. Definitely wasn’t perfect. He missed a couple of throws, but he made a couple of plays that I didn’t think were there, so I was definitely happy with him,” Shanahan told reporters after a 30-12 win over the New York Giants on Thursday, September 21.
Purdy, who won his eighth-consecutive start, completed 67.6% of his passes as he went 25-37. He averaged 8.4 yards per completion and posted a 111.3 quarterback rating — all capped by a late 27-yard touchdown to star wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
That’s all after a challenging first half for Purdy where the 49ers leaned on the backfield and short throws to get the job done. Purdy ultimately turned things around as he finished with his first career 300-yard game.
Brock Purdy: ‘That’s Their Scheme’
Purdy’s struggles stemmed from the Giants’ dedication to the blitz.
“That’s their scheme. That’s how they’ve done things. They’re pretty good at it,” Purdy told reporters on Thursday. “So, going into the game, we had an idea obviously on film and whatnot that’s what we’re going to get, and we stuck to it.”
A great throw by Brock Purdy knowing the blitz was coming and a great catch by Ronnie Bell for his first career touchdown. #49ers
New York blitzed Purdy 79.2% on his pass attempts, 19 of 24, in the first half according to Next Gen Stats. Purdy had an average of 2.36 seconds to throw in the first half, but he owned his miscues.
“There were some looks that were there. … I was off, inaccurate, or some things just didn’t happen right within our scheme, and so, I felt like it was a little choppy at first and then, once we got into a rhythm, we sort of saw what they were doing,” Purdy said.
“We had a good feel for it … like a couple drives into the game. Once we got rolling … putting some drives together and got in the red zone, we’ve just got to score,” Purdy continued. “Putting up field goals and points are great, but, our standard, we want to be able to score touchdowns when we get in the red zone.”
Despite the challenging start, Purdy became “the third-youngest player in NFL history to throw for 700 pass yards, four pass touchdowns and have zero interceptions in through the three games of a season” according to ESPN Stats & Info. He joined an elite list with Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. Mahomes did in 2018 and Jackson did it in 2019 as both won MVP awards, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Another With 30 Points Won’t Satisfy 49ers
Shanahan didn’t need to grade any film to see the many holes amid the 49ers’ third 30-point game this season.
“It’s great to get 30 three weeks in a row but we felt like we left a lot out there too,” Shanahan said.
He showed pleasure in the team’s third-straight win to start the season, but that’s partially due to the extra time such as a weekend off before a Week 4 game with the Arizona Cardinals on October 1. The Cardinals struggled out the gate with losses to the Giants and Washington Commanders in the first two weeks of the season.
“We’re real happy to be 3-0 right now. It’s really cool to do it after a Thursday night game. Not many times in the NFL where you get to enjoy a win more than just that night,” Shanahan said.