Almost three years since Brock Purdy left Lincoln Financial Field with a mangled elbow and his Super Bowl dreams shattered, he found glory in the same setting.
Down in the fourth quarter after his second interception led to the Philadelphia Eagles’ go-ahead touchdown, Purdy was unyielding and unflappable. The San Francisco 49ers QB was 5 of 7 for 42 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey, in the 66-yard march to lift San Francisco to a 23-19 victory over the Eagles.
Not only did Purdy have to rally his team from a deficit, but he also had to overcome interceptions that made the win even more difficult.
“Brock obviously had some mistakes with his picks and stuff, but to come back on the last drive and put us in the end zone, lead us all the way down there,” Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan said of his quarterback’s performance, “and get to like the third guy in his touchdown run, really proud of the guys.
Had this been a history book showing Purdy returning to Philly in the playoffs, he would have put up some great stats. Instead, it was a gutsy performance (18-of-31 for 262 yards, two touchdowns and two INTs) from the QB and the 49ers, emblematic of a season in which they’ve overcome a slew of injuries. They did it again on Sunday when they lost regular George Kittle to a torn Achilles.
“I think it shows how they’ve been all year,” Shanahan said of what the win said about his team. “They’ve been resilient all year. They’ve overcome a lot of things. They believe in each other so much and we knew we couldn’t come in here and just win with certain guys playing. We knew we had to come in here and win as a team, and I really believe we played as a team today and that’s what we did.”
When it was over, Purdy was in control. Both of his interceptions were in the second half, but as has been his wont with Purdy and his shooter mentality, he kept throwing it.
“The game is still up for grabs,” he said. “I was just being real with myself and leaning into my faith and understanding that I have to keep it all loose, but try to go do God’s will. And that’s every drive. The same thing happened at the end of the game. We had to go and do it. I just kept my mind fresh and went to play one game at a time, every game has its own life, and every single game still did it that way.”