Brock Purdy’s NFL playoff debut was a tour de power efficiency that shattered the paradigm for rookie NFL quarterbacks. In one sport, the San Francisco 49ers’ virtuoso logged extra playoff touchdowns than Jimmy Garappolo has in his complete Niners profession.
Transcendent rookie playoff debuts don’t simply happen by happenstance. The air stress is completely different up within the playoff environment. Most rookies don’t even play as rookies and those which are lucky sufficient to waddle out into the postseason and plod round groggily for 60 minutes. Purdy was imagined to hit a wall. Hell, much more skilled quarterbacks expertise stage fright underneath the brilliant lights. In the primary half, we noticed some spotty moments from Purdy.
Purdy’s 6-0 begin to his profession has been extra analogous to a teenage Eddie Murphy infiltrating the SNL forged, placing the present on his again and fewer than two years later, going toe-to-toe with Nick Nolte in “48 Hrs.” There’s no telling the place Purdy goes from right here, however he’s already cemented his footprints in NFL lore.
But like Eddie transitioning from 11pm sketch comedian to buddy cop film star with ease, the rook proved he’s received the stage presence to not simply experience alongside within the Niners ensemble forged, however to often take the lead.
Purdy: Not like all the remainder
Twenty-four rookie quarterbacks have began an NFL playoff sport and Purdy’s debut is the higher echelon, if not one of the best we’ve ever seen. In the annals of NFL historical past, there hasn’t been a playoff debut of this magnitude, particularly by a rookie passer. Dan Marino’s playoff debut doesn’t stand out as a result of he misplaced. To search for the golden normal, you’ve received to dig deeper.
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In the 2000 postseason, New Orleans’ fourth round flotsam, Aaron Brooks set the gold standard by minced the defending Super Bowl champions’, but even that came against one of the worst pass defenses in league history. In the 2016 postseason, another fourth rounder Dak Prescott whipped it around for 304 yards and three touchdowns.
Brock Purdy’s 131.5 passer rating is the Burj Khalifa compared to the 111.5 quarterback rating Brooks earned against the Rams, in part because the former was turnover-free. Purdy’s improvisational acumen was on display on the laser he threw to Brandon Aiyuk late in the fourth quarter. The score was already lopsided, but Purdy’s moxy, accuracy and his poise under duress were all on display as he scrambled calmly, set up for a throw, reset his body and got blasted in the process. Aiyuk dropped a pass placed in his bread basket, but Purdy put the league on notice. The Niners just got a whole lot tougher to trifle with.
The weapons Purdy’s working with are worlds above the hand he was dealt at Iowa State. Purdy went from battling with a dearth of talent on the Cyclones (in comparison to his Big 12 competition) to the riches of Shanahan’s Niners. Sure, Trey Lance was plucked from Division II North Dakota State. But he was also a member of a 2-time FCS Champion who were head and shoulders above their comp.
Not since Mortimer and Duke introduced Billy Ray Valentine to the good life has anyone seen a virtuoso make a more pronounced leap in his available resources and meet the challenge.
Two decades ago, a young Ben Roethlisberger won his first 14 starts, but weighed the Steelers down in his playoff debut. The NFL’s 2005 Offensive Rookie of the Year completed 17 of 30 passes for 181 yards and blew through consecutive interceptions, including a pick-six to Jets safety Reggie Tongue. Roethlisberger still rode the Steelers defense’s coattails into the AFC Championship Game. The ceiling is higher for Purdy on the back of an equally dominant defense.