Brock Purdy’s big night sets up 49ers-Seahawks showdown for NFC’s top seed

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – On a night when the San Francisco 49ers were without All-Pro tight end George Kittle and All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams for a moment, the weight of their playoff positioning fell on quarterback Brock Purdy.

Purdy was up to the challenge. Behind its five total touchdowns (three passing, two rushing), the Niners outlasted the Chicago Bears 42-38 in a wild shootout on “Sunday Night Football.” This is the first time San Francisco has scored more than 40 points in consecutive games since November 1995.

The 49ers improved to 12-4 and will host the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday night with the NFC West division title, the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs on the line. That could mean even more for the Niners with Super Bowl LX being played at Levi’s Stadium.

To achieve any of those goals, the Niners will count on Purdy to continue playing like one of the best and most efficient quarterbacks in the league.

“It’s his best [football] right now,” 49ers right tackle Colton McKivitz said. “And that’s when you have to do your best. That’s what this team needs, is that offense that comes in and scores and scores a lot. … The way he plays, it’s awesome. Having a leader like that who commands the group and plays at this level, it’s a big confidence builder for us.”

Although Purdy has had some hot streaks since taking over as San Francisco’s starting quarterback in 2022, he’s arguably playing better than ever now on a team that lacks the star power of his previous teams.

Purdy’s importance was on display Sunday night in a game that almost depended on which team had the ball last. After throwing a pick-6 on the first play of the game, Purdy bounced back with a near-perfect effort. He finished 24 of 33 for 303 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. He also had 6 carries for 28 yards and 2 more scores.

After throwing five touchdown passes in Monday night’s win over the Indianapolis Colts, Purdy has scored at least five touchdowns in two straight games. He is the first Niners quarterback to accomplish the feat and one of six quarterbacks to do so in at least two consecutive games, joining Tom Brady (2007), Russell Wilson (2020), Deshaun Watson (2017), Ben Roethlisberger (2014) and Daunte Culpepper (2004).

Purdy also became the first 49ers quarterback with at least three passes and two rushing touchdowns in a game since Jeff Garcia did it against the Cardinals in Week 14 of 2003. Of his 33 pass attempts, Purdy completed just two off-target throws against Chicago.

“I thought Brock had a heck of a game,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Brock played hard, made some huge plays in this game. He kept some drives alive with his legs, made some off-schedule plays, and he’s a killer out there…he’s playing as well as he can right now.”

Plenty of numbers support the idea that Purdy is playing as well as any NFL quarterback since returning in Week 11 from a right big toe injury. As of Week 11, Purdy ranks third in the NFL in QBR (80.0) and touchdown passes per game (2.67), second in completion percentage over expectation (7.5%), ninth in passing yards per game (242.3), fifth in yards per attempt (7.9) and has the lowest off-target throw percentage in the league (10.3%).

Purdy’s ability to better understand when to use his legs to gain yards and create space to throw has been central to his success. This was on full display during his third-quarter touchdown pass to Kyle Juszczyk. Purdy eluded several defenders and found Juszczyk alone in the end zone on a play that Shanahan said made him “extremely nervous” and then “extremely happy.”

“It’s just one of those things where it’s about football, and it’s going to happen,” Purdy said. “How can I be smart outside of play design, but also have my eyes on the field because guys are moving and working, and there are explosive plays. I feel like that’s something I’m continuing to learn as I go. It’s part of my game.”

Purdy and the 49ers have a second straight short week of preparation ahead of Saturday’s showdown with the Seahawks. Just like in 2019, the NFC’s top seed will play against Seattle in the regular season finale with high stakes in the playoffs. The 49ers won this game in 2019, when linebacker Dre Greenlaw faced Seahawks tight end Jacob Hollister at the 1 as time expired to send the 49ers to victory and, ultimately, an appearance in Super Bowl LIV.

Although Shanahan wasn’t thrilled about having another short week after the NFL announced the schedule Sunday night, he made sure his team was aware of what was at stake in Week 18.

“It’s huge,” Shanahan said. “So proud of the guys all year long, proud of today. It’s a heck of a deal to be able to play for the 1 seed, and these guys deserved it.”