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SANTA CLARA – One 49ers defender after another got asked about the quarterback, and that seemed a bit off.
They just beat Tom Brady, the NFL’s only beholder of seven Super Bowl rings.
Mostly, though, the 49ers defenders instead got interrogated about Brock Purdy, who won his starting debut by virtue of Sunday’s 35-7 victory over Tampa Bay.
Purdy indeed deserved a parade of platitudes and compliments, because this game will go down in franchise lore for how a rookie – the last pick of the draft, and the third quarterback on the depth chart — emerged victorious against the NFL’s all-time best (or second-best, for you Joe Montana loyalists).
“The weight isn’t all on Purdy, right?” linebacker Fred Warner said. “We just let him know to play his game and we’re all behind him. It’s a team sport. That’s what happens when you go out and play complementary football.”
”I love watching you play,” Brady told Warner postgame, before telling the media: “I can see why they’re the No. 1 defense.”
The 49ers (9-4) are on a six-game win streak, with a chance to clinch the NFC West on Thursday night by beating the host Seattle Seahawks (7-6).
This could take a while as I describe 10 riveting things that caught my eye from this quarterback-crazed affair:
10. POSTGAME WORSHIP
Rather than get starstruck while playing against Brady, the 49ers’ defenders waited until after they handed him one of the most lopsided defeats of his spectacular career. I’ve never seen such a postgame reception line that went five defenders deep before Purdy could get his turn for the customary handshake welcoming him to the quarterback fraternity.
Even wilder was that Dre Greenlaw had the stones to seek – and get – Brady’s autograph on the footbals Greenlaw and Tashaun Gipson Sr. intercepted in the third quarter. “I went like a little fan girl,” Greenlaw said. “I got to soothe him up, make him feel better, say ‘You’re the greatest ever.’ He is, he is!” Then Greenlaw told Brady he didn’t need to sign the ball “because he looked like he was going through a lot,” but Warner egged him on to get the autographs.
The 49ers’ defenders disguised their admiration of Brady during the game by simply fulfilling their assignment, making tackles and allowing just one play over 20 yards. That play was a 32-yard reception into the red zone, which led to no points because the 49ers forced incompletions on third- and fourth-and-goal. The 49ers have not allowed more than 17 points in any of their past six wins.
9. BOSA SURVIVES
Nick Bosa should not have been playing in the fourth quarter, not when he missed practices last week with a hamstring issue, and not when the 49ers’ lead was still 28.
Sure enough, on the first defensive snap of the fourth quarter, a defensive lineman got hurt, and it was Kerry Hyder Jr. (ankle) while playing alongside Bosa.
It took until Friday for Bosa and coach Kyle Shanahan to determine he’d play this game. He did not add to his NFL lead (14 ½ sacks) but he came closest to sacking Brady, whose legs were in Bosa’s grasp on a third-down throwaway. “I thought he was down but he just got rid of it,” Bosa said.
How did the 49ers keep Brady and the Bucs down? “Just every level is so good and so on it that, if everybody is out there, it’s going to be a good performance,” Bosa replied.
8. DEEBO’S DEPARTURE
Deebo Samuel spun out of one tackle, cut up the middle, and, yikes, his left ankle got trapped under 307-pound nose tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches and then 271-pound Anthony Nelson, while linebacker Lavonte David vultured in to force a fumble he recovered.
Samuel eventually stood up (on just his right leg), then retreated to the turf until a cart could usher him to the locker room for X-rays, which turned an initial report of a knee injury to that of a non-fractured ankle. Shanahan acknowledged a high ankle sprain likely would shelve the All-Pro “wide back.” Presumably that would be until the playoffs.
With only two spots left to activate players off injured reserve, the 49ers may have to carry Samuel on the 53-man roster along with Garoppolo and defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway (pectoral). Elijah Mitchell’s return is worthy of one short-term IR spot, and the 49ers may need to reconsider options if Javon Kinlaw’s knee isn’t showing enough progress.
7. RICE’S OUTCRY
Samuel’s fateful play, or its outcome, prompted 49ers legend Jerry Rice to plead on an Instagram: “Please stop running our skill player up the middle.” Rice referenced not only Samuel but Trey Lance, who got hurt on an option keeper up the middle in Week 2, as well as Jimmy Garoppolo, who fractured his left foot Sunday on trying to minimize a sack rather than a questionably designed run.
This was the 155th official carry of Samuel’s career, and only 28 came in his first two seasons. His rushing usage, no matter how much some may dislike it, is part of his NFL DNA and why incentives reflect that in this year’s contract extension.
Samuel has average 6.6 yards per carry and Sunday’s touchdown was his 15th as a rusher in 56 games, playoffs included.
Rice averaged 7.3 yards per carry, but had just 94 carries – 61 less than Samuel — in his 332-game career. Of Rice’s NFL-record 208 touchdowns, 10 came on carries, and none of those were in the playoffs.
6. McCAFFREY’S FIRST 100
With Mitchell and now Samuel out, more onus than ever is on Christian McCaffrey, who came through Sunday with his first 100-yard rushing output (119 yards, 14 carries). He averaged 8.5 yards per carry, the fourth-best clip of his career (surpassing his 8.4-yard average in 2019 against the 49ers).
McCaffrey also must remain a reliable receiver and quick outlet for Purdy. A replay reversal-reversal granted McCaffrey a 27-yard touchdown catch for a 21-0 lead in this one. His 38-yard touchdown run capped the scoring. What, no touchdown pass for the hat trick? Slacker.
5. KITTLE’S IMPACT
Like last Sunday, Purdy found George Kittle for a pivotal third-down conversion. Last Sunday, it was a 19-yarder on third-and-10 to beat the blitz for arguably Purdy’s most heady play. This game, Purdy went to Kittle on the game’s intial third-down try, and Kittle’s 15-yard catch put them at the Bucs’ 34, two plays before Samuel’s touchdown for a 7-0 lead.
Kittle had another 15-yard catch to start the 49ers’ second touchdown drive. Everyone wants more of that, when everyone should really appreciate Kittle’s blocking prowess, too. He helped open Samuel’s scoring lane, and he decleated a defensive end who was engaged in a block by Trent Williams. Kittle’s blocking can be a joy to watch, as can those of fullback Kyle Juszczyk and, heck the entire line.
Said McCaffrey: “The offensive line is unbelievable, watching those guys and the tight ends and our fullback, Juice, it’s rare to have so many guys that block like that and protect the quarterback.”
4. TURNOVER TIME
What does Arik Armstead see in this defense since returning these past two games from ankle and foot injuries that shelved him two months?
“Definitely turnovers have been key for us of late, and that’s the No. 1 indicator of wins and losses is turnovers,” Armstead said. “We’ve been doing a better job with that, and that’s really set us apart from I think a lot of other defenses, and it’s showing up on the scoreboard too.”
The 49ers have 11 takeaways in the six-game win streak, against just three turnovers. That included Samuel’s fumble Sunday and the third-quarter interceptions by Gipson and Greenlaw. Pass rush factored into those picks.
Gipson’s came on third-and-5, after Samson Ebukam twisted with Nick Bosa and pressured Brady. Next series, Kerry Hyder Jr. broke loose up the gut and hit Brady just after he unleashed a 5-yard pass that Greenlaw jumped to tip and catch for an interception. Greenlaw said last week he wanted a Brady ball, and he not only got one, he got it signed, by a legendary hand that got dinged against Ebukam’s helmet on Greenlaw’s interception.
3. GREENLAW BARGAIN
Three months ago, the 49ers announced before their home opener that Greenlaw agreed to a two-year extension, for a $16.4 million payout that sure seems like a bargain now. He is enjoying a sensational season, exemplified by his interception Sunday and the 15 tackles that matched his career high.
“He’s playing at such a high level and probably not getting talked about enough with the type of ball he’s playing this year,” Warner said. “The way people talk about me, they need talk about him the same way. I know what high-end linebacker play looks like and he’s doing that.”
Warner campaigned for Pro Bowl voters to chime in for Greenlaw, who hadn’t cracked the top 10 inside linebackers in last week’s tally. Warner ranked just seventh. Seattle’s Jordyn Books is first, and next up for the 49ers.
2. BRADY’S HOMECOMING
Brady’s 55 passes were the most defended by the 49ers since the 2001 opener at Detroit (Jared Goff). He completed 34 for 253 yards, with two resulting in the aforementioned interceptions and one deflected throw resulting in the Bucs’ lone touchdown, by Russell Gage Jr. late in the third quarter to end the shutout. A holding penalty wiiped out a TD bomb to an open Mike Evans (a coverage breakdown too familiar by presumably Talanoa Hufanga.)
It was not Brady’s ideal homecoming, which began with him coming off the bus and snapping a cell phone picture of 49ers legends like his childhood idol Joe Montana on posters inside one of the stadium’s garages.
Brady, 45, did not look washed. His team did. There was no spunk, no spirit, no camaraderie, no energy, and not much resemblance to the 2020 team he led to a Super Bowl win.
1. PURDY’S LEADERSHIP
Revisionist history has some hyping up Purdy’s training camp (with scarce reps) as a mile marker for his rise to starting-caliber efficiency. Fine, but, the NFL is a here and now world, and Purdy is making believers by more than just his throws, smarts and mobility.
The quarterback position commands leadership. Bosa gave a great example of what he saw in that regard Sunday. Rather than retreat to the bench to review video and talk to coaches after touchdown drives, “he waited for the extra point and then congratulated all the lineman each time,” Bosa said. “I mean, the kid’s awesome.
McCaffrey agreed, and he’s sung Purdy’s virtues since arriving in the October trade and getting mentored in the offense by the 22-year-old quarterback who spent the past four seasons leading Iowa State. McCaffrey said he can see determination in Purdy’s eyes.
“He’s an impressive guy. He’s fun to be around,” McCaffrey said. “To play quarterback, you have to be very intelligent, For a rookie to come in and process this offense, do everything by the book, then add his own flair to it is very impressive. I’m excited for him, excited to keep playing with him. I love that guy.”
He loves him. A third-stringer. A rookie. The guy after Jimmy Garoppolo, after Trey Lance. The guy who now has a sore oblique from the hits (four) he took, and the only one of seven quarterbacks to win their starting debut against Brady.
Purdy threw for 185 yards, and that was his total by halftime, as he went 2-of-3 for no yards in a second half that commanded clock-killing runs rather than risky passes with a sore side.
There can’t be many quarterbacks who win their starting debut and get to watch from the sideline as their backup — Josh Johnson in this case — finishes out the garbage time. Once Johnson took a knee on the final snap, the celebration began, with Danny Gray doing a celebratory backflip in the backfield (a la Richie James, 2019), followed by flips from Drake Jackson and George Odom, too.
Flip out, folks. The 49ers are playoff bound, just not officially until perhaps Thursday.
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