SANTA CLARA — Fred Warner gets credit for being the first one to say it.
If Brock Purdy and the 49ers keep this up, he won’t be the last.
“MVP Brock Purdy” the linebacker said to start his news conference following the Niners’ 35-13 thrashing of the Dolphins on Sunday to improve to an emphatic 2-0.
To call Purdy’s performance in the win MVP-caliber might be selling it short.
A few select nuggets that stand out from Purdy’s near-perfect Sunday:
- Including his rushing touchdown, Purdy was responsible for more scoring plays (three) than incompletions (two). In 25 plays from scrimmage, Purdy generated 25.7 total expected points added, one of the NFL’s most efficient games on record.
- Completing 20 of 22 attempts for 287 yards and two TDs through the air, Purdy put on the eighth-best quarterbacking show in NFL history, according to QBR, the proprietary ESPN metric. It grades QBs on a 0-100 scale, and Purdy scored a 99.7.
- There has never been a 100 QBR; Purdy was on pace up until his final throw.
A day later, coach Kyle Shanahan had gotten a chance to review the tape.
It was just as impressive as it was in real time.
“He was almost flawless,” Shanahan marveled. “His last play was probably his only miss, on the intentional grounding. Without that, he was pretty much perfect. He had an unbelievable game.”
Four years earlier, Purdy introduced himself to the league against the same foe and was so impressive from the get-go that Shanahan said it can be difficult to evaluate how he’s grown.
But through two weeks this season, Purdy has shown that while he may be the perfect quarterback for Shanahan’s offensive system, he is not a system quarterback.
He’s a weapon unto himself. A playmaker in his own right. A real, legitimate MVP candidate.
“We’re starting to witness Brock’s prime, and I think it’s going to be a sight to behold,” left tackle Trent Williams said. “I’ve always loved Brock, but I think he’s starting to get his respect now.”
Really, the only quarterbacks worthy of being in the conversation with Purdy after two weeks already have hardware: the Bills’ Josh Allen and the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes. They’re the only others to lead their teams to undefeated starts to the season and looked as good getting them there.
- Brock Purdy: 45-56 (80.4%*), 492 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT, 0 sacks, 94.9 QBR*, 125.6 passer rating
- Josh Allen: 40-60 (66.7%), 582 yards, 5 TD, 0 INT, 4 sacks, 86.4 QBR, 125.8 passer rating
- Patrick Mahomes: 47-74 (63.5%), 566 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT, 4 sacks, 70.4 QBR, 103.8 passer rating
*= would be NFL record
The NFL MVP is basically the best QB on a playoff team — the last time a player at any other position won it was Adrian Peterson in 2012 — and Purdy has as strong an argument as anyone else.
He’s completed 80.4% of his 56 pass attempts so far, which would set an NFL record for a season. And they’ve been more than just dinks and dunks.
Half of Purdy’s 20 completions against the Dolphins traveled 10 or more yards in the air, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. He was the first QB with a perfect downfield passing game since Carson Wentz in 2021. It wasn’t a one-off, either.
Purdy has arguably been the best deep-ball passer since he established himself in the league. He’s led all NFL quarterbacks with at least 250 attempts in downfield completion percentage every season since 2023. The difference this year is he’s doing more of it himself.
Just look at his most impressive throw against the Dolphins, the 27-yard strike to Mike Evans that put them on the verge of going up 35-6 in the third quarter. At first, the deke Purdy put on a defender in the backfield and the tight window he pierced with the throw stood out.
“If it wouldn’t have been a perfect ball, it would have been an interception because the guy was looking to undercut it,” Shanahan said. “He just faded it over the top of him. It was a dime.”
Upon further review, it was an even deeper display of Purdy’s mastery of the offense and his ability to pick apart opposing defenses. The play was drawn up to go to Deebo Samuel underneath; Purdy saw an opportunity for a bigger gain and made it happen.
He did the same thing a week earlier on his 39-yard touchdown to Demarcus Robison.
“Demarcus is not in the read on that play,” fullback Kyle Juszczyk said. “He’s what we call an alert. For Brock to be tapped into that, understanding the 2% chance that it’s actually going to open up and have the confidence to step into it and rip it …”
Tight end George Kittle interjected.
“It’s pretty sick because me and Juice are alerts a lot ,and we don’t get the ball,” he said. “So the fact that he’s starting to see alerts, that’s good for me and Juice.”
Good for the 49ers; bad for the rest of the NFL.
The fact is, Purdy is taking command of the Niners’ offense like he never has in the past. And while Shanahan is still scheming up the best ways to get the ball in the hands of players including Kittle and Christian McCaffrey, he’s doing it with a receiver room that is in tatters.
That’s not system quarterback stuff. That’s MVP stuff.
“For him to be operating the offense the way he is right now, it doesn’t matter who the other pieces are,” Warner said. “As long as Brock’s the one being the point guard, I know we’re good.”
