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Kyle Shanahan Was Just Like Every Other Fan Watching Brock Purdy's Wild Scramble

Purdy kept the play alive for eight seconds before finding Kyle Juszczyk for a touchdown.

Kyle Koster

Brock Purdy was must-see television in Niners' huge Week 17 victory.
Brock Purdy was must-see television in Niners' huge Week 17 victory. / Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
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The San Francisco 49ers were able to outscore the Chicago Bears, 42-38, in a Sunday night shootout. Brock Purdy rebounded from a pick-six on his first pass attempt of the game in a big way, throwing for 303 yards and three touchdowns (he also ran for two scores) to put his team in position to earn the NFC's No. 1 seed with a win next Sunday. His most memorable moment came when, in true rodeo fashion, he scrambled around for eight seconds with surprising athleticism before finding Kyle Juszczyk for a touchdown.

Niners coach Kyle Shanahan, who once again dialed up an explosive gameplan for his field general to execute, described what it was like to watch the play from the sidelines. And he revealed that sometimes coaches are just like us.

"I was just hoping he was going to throw it away, and we can have a couple more downs," Shanahan said of the play. "And then I just started watching him, probably like every other fan does. He made me extremely nervous, and then he made me extremely happy, which happens sometimes."

Here's that play:

What Shanahan is referring to there is also relatable to the average fan. Who among us hasn't been on the couch thinking 'no, no, no ... yes' as a play seemingly destined for disaster turns into something productive?

"Brock's been playing his a-- off, made some huge plays in this game, kept some drives alive with his legs, made some off-schedule plays, and was an assassin out there throughout the whole day," Shanahan said of Purdy, who has helped San Francisco overcome a spate of ill-timed injuries throughout the season to get to this point.

The stats back up that eye test as the quarterback has thrown for at least 295 yards in his last three starts while racking up 11 touchdowns to go against two interceptions. San Francisco's offense has been humming during the closing stretch, posting at least 37 points in all their December victories.

Fun to watch for fans, especially the one on the sidelines coaching.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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