Why Brock Purdy Will Bounce Back Against the Commanders

It was an ugly game for Brock Purdy against the Ravens.

He turned the ball over four times to the Baltimore defense. Now, all four picks weren't directly his fault, but the fact that he had them can end up shaking him mentally. That is what it looked like for the first time in his career against the Ravens.

Purdy looked shaken from the moment he threw his first interception. And it looked like he was pressing at times. The greatest strength Purdy has always had is a strong mental fortitude and he didn't have it against the Ravens. A performance like that could cause Purdy, or any quarterback really, to unravel going forward. However, I do not see that being the case at all. In fact, Purdy will have a bounce back performance when the 49ers face the Commanders this week.

It starts with the fact that the Commanders do not field an elite defense. In fact, they have been one of the worst this season. The only times this season (twice) that Purdy has looked mediocre has come at the hands of the Browns and Ravens. Both have elite defenses, so it takes that formidable of a unit to make Purdy look poor. That says a lot about how good Purdy is. He should be able to look himself against the Commanders and use that as a "get right" game.

But aside from the disparity in talent, I feel most confident in Purdy having a great game because of how he handled himself at his press conference on Thursday. He was transparent about his mistakes in that game, which is something that is rare to see out of a starting quarterback. One of his best answers was about treating his poor performance as a learning experience that will only propel him to be better.

"The whole season building up to what they're saying is a huge game on Christmas, Monday Night Football and all that. It was a big game. So for me, it's a great learning experience just in terms of not buying into what's going on around and what's being said. Instead, executing in the moment, making the right reads, being consistent, protecting the ball, all those things. It's such a good learning experience. It's not to say I'm going to be perfect moving forward, it's football, you're not perfect.

"But for me, I think it was huge just in terms of being a quarterback in this league. When things are going well, people can say some great things and it's easy to buy into it a little bit. But you’ve got to put your head down, go to work, have that chip on your shoulder still and still prove to yourself that you’ve got to continue to show your teammates that you're the guy week in and week out. So definitely something for me to learn from.”

Every game Purdy has played in has been sweet for the most part. Before his poor outing against the Ravens, he really hadn't faced a seriously demoralizing game. And while his performance against the Browns wasn't good either, that performance pales in comparison of how bad he was against the Ravens. This is an experience that Purdy needed. Now, we will get to witness the real mental toughness of Purdy. How does he look following a game like that?

What I am expecting is that he will look like the quarterback that was firmly in the MVP discussion prior to Week 17. He had a bad game. So what? It was going to happen. Now it's a matter of him shaking it off and not allowing it to snowball because the 49ers need him to be that fearless player that they are accustomed to seeing.