Brock Purdy Stirs 49ers Super Bowl Hype on Twitter as SF Clinches NFC West Title
Scott Polacek@@ScottPolacek
Featured Columnist IVDecember 16, 2022
The San Francisco 49ers are NFC West champions in large part because of their backfield combination of Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey.
Just like everyone drew it up at the start of the season.
San Francisco clinched the division crown Thursday with a 21-13 victory over the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. Purdy threw two touchdowns, both of which went to tight end George Kittle, and led the 10-4 visitors to their seventh consecutive win.
Social media had nothing but praise for the rookie signal-caller:
Kevin Walsh Jr. @TheKevinWalshBrock Purdy just has to make the throws that Shanahan creates. The same as Jimmy G.<br><br>We've seen other 49er QBs not be able to do it, but the sample size is growing for Purdy.<br><br>This is a tier 1 team. <a href="https://t.co/i9TEbBr98r">https://t.co/i9TEbBr98r</a>
The biggest storyline for San Francisco is how it has survived so many injuries. It is down to its third quarterback of the season with Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo both sidelined, and do-everything playmaker Deebo Samuel was also out Thursday.
Enter Purdy, who was Mr. Irrelevant in this year's draft but is now a household name among all 49ers fans after leading the team to consecutive wins over the Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seahawks.
He provided the highlight of a first half largely controlled by the defenses by faking a screen to one side of the field, turning around and faking a screen to the other side, and then hitting a wide-open Kittle over the middle for a touchdown on a beautifully designed play.
It was McCaffrey's turn to find the end zone after San Francisco's formidable defense set him up in ideal position with a monster Dre Greenlaw hit on Travis Homer and long fumble return by Charvarius Ward. By the time Purdy found Kittle for a 54-yard score on the first possession of the second half, the game was seemingly over.
The two-touchdown sequence sandwiched around halftime was a reminder of how perfectly set up San Francisco is for a quarterback to have success. There are playmakers such as McCaffrey and Kittle all over the field, and Nick Bosa spearheads one of the best defenses in the league.
Still, Purdy has played better than anyone could have realistically expected, and the NFC West-champion 49ers are Super Bowl threats as a result.