A season-ending foot injury to Jimmy Garoppolo in Week 13 forced the 49ers to turn to seventh-round rookie quarterback Brock Purdy, the infamous “Mr. Irrelevant” of this year’s draft. But, after impressive showings in one and a half weeks’ worth of work, Purdy has already appeared to win over one of the franchise’s all-time greats.
Purdy’s solid play combined with the 49ers (9–4) deploying the league’s best defense has kept the club’s hopes of a deep postseason run alive as the team closes in on the NFC West title in Week 15. The lingering question surrounding the team, however, concerns whether or not the 22-year-old QB will be able to lead San Fran and an offense that boasts Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle all the way to Super Bowl LVII in February.
When asked this week if he believes the 49ers can go all the way, Joe Montana told USA Today that he likes their chances if Purdy continues to play like he did in Week 14. Purdy, making his first career start, completed 16-of-21 passes for 185 yards with three total touchdowns in a 35-7 home win over Tom Brady and the Buccaneers.
“If he does what he did last week, yeah. I mean, the team’s talented,” said Montana while also praising the Niners’ D.
Montana, an NFL Hall of Famer and four-time Super Bowl champion, also said he believes Purdy needs to “just get himself into a rhythm” and allow the rest to follow. The young QB came on strong in relief of Garoppolo in Week 14, going 25-of-37 for 210 yards, 2 TDs and an interception in a big 33-17 win over the Dolphins.
“That offense does that for you,” Montana added. “I mean, heck, you’ve got McCaffrey and Kittle and Deebo, that receiving core is pretty good so let ’em work.”
Although it remains to be seen how the rest of the season plays out, Purdy and the Niners are in prime position to emerge as one of the NFC favorites when it’s all said and done. It’s worth noting, though, if the defense continues its strong play, as Montana alluded to, with the promising first-year signal-caller continuing to make plays, Purdy may not be asked to do much down the stretch.
Entering Week 15, the 49ers ranked first in total defense, allowing 286.8 total yards per game and 15.2 points per game.
