The 49ers’ Super Bowl hopes may relaxation within the fingers of Brock Purdy

Two weeks in the past, the San Francisco 49ers throttled the Arizona Cardinals by a ultimate rating of 38-10. That victory improved the 49ers to 6-4, spawned quite a few articles about how Kyle Shanahan was constructing his offense, and sparked discuss about a run to the Super Bowl.

Today? Well, the 49ers are actually 8-4, due to a pair of wins over the New Orleans Saints and the Miami Dolphins. But the dialog has shifted a bit, as a result of probably season-ending damage suffered by quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in Sunday’s win over the Dolphins.

Because now the offense is within the fingers of Mr. Irrelevant, rookie passer Brock Purdy.

Pressed into motion on Sunday, Purdy carried out properly given the state of affairs, finishing 25 of 37 passes for 210 yards and a pair of touchdowns, together with an interceptions. These usually are not eye-popping numbers, as Purdy’s NFL Passer Rating of 88.8 positioned him fifteenth amongst quarterbacks this week.

But a few of causes for the thrill in regards to the 49ers two weeks in the past — the weapons across the quarterback place, the presence of one of many NFL’s finest defenses — are nonetheless in place.

The solely difficulty now’s whether or not Purdy can do what Garoppolo was doing, which was execute the San Francisco offense at a really environment friendly degree.

Entering play on Sunday, Garoppolo was some of the environment friendly quarterbacks within the league this season, rating fourth within the league with an Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt of seven.60 (behind MVP candidates Tua Tagovailoa, Patrick Mahomes, and Jalen Hurts). Viewed by means of the lens of Expected Points Added, Garoppolo was fifth within the league in that class, with an EPA/Play of 0.235:

Is there an opportunity that Purdy can match that effectivity?

It can be a tall activity for a rookie, however there have been a couple of performs from Sunday that supply hope for San Francisco followers.

We can begin with a pair of throws from the third quarter. With the 49ers going through a third and 5 on their very own 30-yard line. They decide up the primary down, with Purdy hitting Jauan Jennings on a bang-8 submit route on the left facet of the sphere.

What stands out about this play is the anticipation, in addition to the texture for the beneath zone protection. Miami drops into Cover 3 on this play, and Purdy reads it completely, throwing Jennings open within the secondary window, round linebacker Duke Riley:

This is a really heady play from Purdy. He first has to navigate Miami’s presnap look, and postsnap rotation. Before the play the Dolphins present strain, with each Riley and Jerome Baker walked up within the A-Gaps. Beyond that, each participant is withing six yards of the soccer. Purdy may anticipate Cover 0 right here, one thing the Dolphins are identified to make use of.

But they drop into zone, and Purdy reads that out because the play unfolds, throwing Jennings open within the secondary window with nice timing and really feel.

A couple of performs later, the 49ers picked up one other first down, with Purdy hitting Deebo Samuel on a dig route working off play-action:

This is a tricky play for Purdy to learn, and execute. He aligns in a pistol formation, and carries out a run pretend to his left, earlier than turning to throw. With Samuel coming from the best, not solely does Purdy have to show his again to the protection, he then has to come back out of a pretend to his left and “set the hallway” — getting his ft and hips aligned correctly — to make a throw again to his proper.

He does that properly, after which places this throw to Samuel within the absolute good spot.

Two different snaps from this recreation spotlight each Shanahan’s belief in Purdy, in addition to the rookie’s skill to ship on that belief. In the fourth quarter, the 49ers confronted a third and 1, main by seven.

Shanahan put the ball in Purdy’s fingers, and he delivered a primary down:

This is one other actually good learn from Purdy. It is a third and 1 state of affairs, and the QB opens to his proper to attempt to hit Jennings on a fast slant route. But the Dolphins drop eight into protection, together with move rusher Jaelan Phillips. Phillips is aligned over proper deal with Mike McGlinchey, however when he drops off the sting, that places him proper into the throwing lane for the slant route.

Purdy reads this sudden drop completely, flipping his eyes and ft to the opposite facet of the sphere. he then manages to slot in a throw to Samuel between two defenders, shifting the chains and selecting up a essential first down.

But his finest play of the sport got here a lot earlier within the contest. With the 49ers going through a third and 10 earlier than halftime, the Dolphins had an ideal likelihood to get a cease and maybe break the tie previous to the break.

And it certain regarded like Miami needed to press the problem:

Miami reveals a Cover 0 look earlier than the play, placing eight defenders on the road of scrimmage and leaving three gamers deep.

But, as we noticed earlier within the recreation, they drop into zone protection and ship simply 4 after the QB:

Purdy nonetheless makes them pay. He opens to his left, however seeing the play unfolds, he will get his eyes to the best facet, the place tight finish George Kittle is operating a dig route. With heavy strain in his face, Purdy makes an unbelievable anticipation throw:

“Screenshot scouting” typically eliminates important context when learning a play. But this second tells you simply how spectacular a throw this was from Purdy:

Phillips is correct in his face, Kittle has but to show, however Purdy is aware of precisely the place he must go together with the soccer.

The connection moved the chains, and the 49ers would rating simply earlier than halftime to take a 17-10 lead.

Speaking of context, right here is a bit more. Purdy remains to be a rookie. He was a seventh-round choice for a purpose. And there are different choices on the market for the 49ers to think about. Late on Sunday the workforce signed veteran Josh Johnson off the Denver Broncos’ apply squad. Johnson has made 9 NFL begins, together with two final season, first with the New York Jets after which for the Baltimore Ravens.

Then there’s the Baker Mayfield query. With studies swirling that the Carolina Panthers are going to launch Mayfield later at present, would Shanahan and John Lynch put in a waiver declare on the previous first-overall choice? Back in 2019, previous to a recreation between the 49ers and the Cleveland Browns, Shanahan was effusive along with his reward for Mayfield:

You can inform how [Mayfield] carries himself, how he performs. I imply, I like that kind of particular person. You can inform soccer means every thing to him. He’s going to offer every thing he has. He’s not completely fearful about how he appears and comes off. He’s simply caught up within the second and is who he’s.

That stuff doesn’t trouble me. I believe he’s an excellent participant. I liked him popping out of school. He’s had a yr and 4 video games within the NFL, and I believe he’s been pretty much as good as marketed.

Nobody’s good. He has made errors, identical to everyone does, and everybody will proceed to do, however he deserves what he’s gotten, and I do know he can get so much higher as this retains going. He has the weapons to do it. He has the expertise to do it. And you may inform he’s bought the mindset to do it.

If Shanahan nonetheless feels that manner about Mayfield, San Francisco might be a touchdown spot for the quarterback.

But Shanahan has additionally been effusive with reward for Purdy. Back in the summertime, when Purdy made the roster out of coaching camp, Shanahan indicated that whereas the workforce anticipated Nate Sudfeld can be their backup, Purdy received the job: “I thought he was going to be on our practice squad because we were real happy with Nate. But Brock won that job.”

Furthermore, Shanahan indicated that had the workforce not introduced again Garoppolo, they have been comfy with Purdy because the backup behind Trey Lance. “And we were going to go into the year with him as the No. 2,” Shanahan stated. “And we were good with that because that’s what he earned.”

Shanahan continued that reward Sunday night time, after the rookie’s outing towards Miami. “Brock came in and made some big plays,” Shanahan stated. “He’s bought some balls on the market, forgive me for saying it that manner. Just throwing him in there within the warmth of battle like that, that they had some good changes, taking away our scorching throws.

“We were having to change a lot of stuff on the fly which put a lot of pressure on him that way. I thought he did a hell of a job doing it.”

So whereas there are alternatives on the market, Shanahan is likely to be comfy with Purdy. Everything he has stated about him thus far — coupled with what we noticed on Sunday — is likely to be the proof we have to make that conclusion.