What We’ve Learned About 49ers QB Brock Purdy in the Playoffs
Brock Purdy's numbers in the postseason aren't great, but he keeps winning, so what have we learned about him the past couple weeks?
In the regular season, his quarterback rating was a league-leading 113. In the postseason, it's merely 87.7. Big difference. So we've learned his regular season efficiency doesn't necessarily translate to the playoffs.
But we've also learned he can lead a comeback. That's not something he's had to do often in the regular season because he's usually winning. But he had to lead the 49ers from behind against the Packers and the Lions and he did so beautifully. As opposed to Jordan Love and Jared Goff, who folded late in those games.
We also learned that Purdy is a major threat to scramble. We always knew he's elusive, but now we see he's more than that -- he's a threat to pick up first downs and big plays with his legs when he uses them. And he should use them more. As good as he is inside the pocket, he's an even bigger threat outside of it, which makes him perfect for the modern NFL.
One more thing we've learned about Purdy -- he's lucky. Because through two playoff games this season, he has thrown five passes that were nearly intercepted, but only one was picked off. As opposed to Jimmy Garoppolo, who was extremely unlucky in the postseason.
As throwers, Purdy and Garoppolo are similar. Against Detroit, Purdy forced a pass over the middle that got intercepted by a linebacker -- that was a classic Garoppolo interception. Then later in the game, Purdy overthrew a deep pass to Brandon Aiyuk, just as Jimmy Garoppolo overthrew a deep pass to Emmanuel Sanders in the Super Bowl. The difference is that Garoppolo's pass was incomplete, while Purdy's bounced off the face of a defender and landed in Aiyuk's hands for a 51-yard completion.
Luck.
Still, Purdy is one hell of a quarterback.
