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Brock Purdy is Crashing Back Down to Earth

If he plays poorly again next week against the Bengals and the 49ers lose, he'll be in trouble. He could lose his job.
Grant Cohn|
Brock Purdy is Crashing Back Down to Earth
Brock Purdy is Crashing Back Down to Earth

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San Francisco 49ers

Remember when people thought Brock Purdy might be the next Joe Montana?

That was a real thing just a couple weeks ago. Remember, Purdy was undefeated in the regular season. Now he has lost two games in a row and was one of the main reasons the 49ers lost each time. If he plays poorly again next week against the Bengals and the 49ers lose, he'll be in trouble. He could lose his job.

Life sure comes at you fast.

If you squint, you can see similarities between Purdy and Montana. Neither one has a strong arm. Both can scramble around and improvise. But those qualities aren't what made Joe Joe. He was Joe because he brought the 49ers from behind and won over and over and over and over again. He was Mr. Comeback.

Purdy is not. He has been playing with a lead for what seems like 95 percent of his career. He led one comeback victory last season against the Raiders, who are terrible. To be the next Joe, Purdy needs to be a hero in the fourth quarter of games when the 49ers are losing.

He had a chance against the Browns. And to his credit, he led what should have been a game-winning field-goal drive, but Jake Moody missed a 41-yarder.

But against the Vikings, Purdy had two chances to lead what could have been a game-winning touchdown drive down five in the fourth quarter, and both times he threw picks. Choked. Tried to be the hero and failed.

Purdy is no hero. He is a product of his supporting cast. And now that defenses are getting a longer look at him, he's turning the ball over. Has thrown three picks in the past two games.

Suddenly, he's one bad game against the Bengals next week from losing his job at the Bye to Sam Darnold.

Time for Purdy to show he can bounce back.

Published
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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