Purdy-Mania: Pump the Brakes!!
In the spirit of Dennis Green, “you want to crown Purdy, then crown his ass!”. I’m not ready to do so just yet. The brakes need to be pumped on the Purdy-Mania hype train.
He seems like a great kid and it’s been a nice story especially based on where he was drafted, but we can’t overlook the situation in it’s totality, most importantly his actual football play.
Brock Purdy is a mediocre Qb that is continuously getting bailed out. He deserves praise but the praise is a bit overblown. I’m sure I’ll be called a hater, a buzz kill or even canceled for my perspective.
I’m not saying he shouldn’t be playing in the league, or he sucks as a player. I’m simply stating that he’s not been playing at some sort of elite Qb level that the media is spinning. Word out of Northern Cali is that he’s Joe Montano 2.0!
The real credit goes to coach Shanahan and the ballers on both sides of the ball that surround Brock Purdy. He’s a prime example of coaching matters, systems matter and when you surround a mediocre Qb with the right elements, they will look out of this world. Qb’s come into the league and play for 9 years and never get the holy trinity of great coaching, an O-line, and play-makers all at the same time. Case in point, the new Lost Boy who the Raiders are treating like a Qb pariah, Derek Carr. Most Qb’s can move this offense.
In fairness to Brock Purdy, he’s still a rookie and I’m sure if he stays with this team specifically, he will get better and be more successful over time. But we haven’t seen enough to crown this guy just yet. He is nowhere near the skills sets such as guys like Daniel Jones, Joe Burrow or the Justin Herbert’s of the world, who’s skills set, arm talent, and athleticism is far superior.
Herbert was doubted coming into the league and is still doubted. If Herbert played for Shanahan they would be a dynasty team starting this year with a Super Bowl win.
This weekend will be his first real test. Since he took over for Jimmy G, Brock Purdy hasn’t faced a complete team such as Dallas, especially a team with a pass rush like they have. I actually do believe Jimmy G is better and if healthy, was the team’s best option to lead them to the Superbowl this year. Don’t forget Tre Lance went down too. It took 2 injuries to Qb’s for him to get the start on a ready to win now team.
A rookie Qb going up against a pass rush defense such as Dallas will test Purdy to the fullest and remind everyone who Purdy really is, an mediocre Qb, not an amazing one. I’m sure his parents would disagree, but if Purdy was playing for 31 other teams, he would get pummeled. Sports Twitter and social media would be filled ad nauseam with different versions of “Well, he was Mr. Irrelevant!”, OR “ What do you expect? He’s Mr. Irrelevant!”. all we hear now is, “He went from being Mr. Irrelevant to Mr. Relevant!!!”. No offense to Purdy it’s not his fault people are predictable, unoriginal and do or say things until they are played out.
The national pundits and sports writers are saying, “Sure Purdy's got an amazing offensive line. Yeah, he's got arguably the best set of play-makers hands down on paper more than any team combined. Sure he's got a great coach and a great system, and a great defense to boot, but he's still playing great with very few holes in his game.”
Hello!! That is everything. Having a great offensive line with a plethora of play-makers, and a great coach behind it all is everything. Most teams have one or two of these things at best. That’s why most teams don’t win. They can barely get a good coach. If they had a good coach they would install the other elements.
What the Niners did by drafting a guy who was dubbed “Mr. Irrelevant”, was not magic. Brock Purdy doesn’t have some sort of, off the cuff - supreme sorcery that’s allowing him to extend plays. Any one of his five play-makers have to get open short to mid-field, and they make big plays after the catch. He just has to not screw it up and get the ball in their hands.
His play-makers are the real weapons, and his O-line and coach are all holding him up, not the other way around. Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk, Elijah Mitchell even, are all dangerous weapons. They are total game changers on their own and you put them together they put the Avengers to shame. Most teams have 2-3 offensive ballers, the Niners have 5.
All last week the headlines and articles everywhere proclaimed Purdy was “dominant from start to finish”. Maybe I’m watching a different game, but Purdy didn't play very well. In fact, he was horrendous the first half. It was mostly system scheming and plays made after the catch. His pocket presence was bad. He was running out of the pocket if his first read wasn’t available. He made several ill advised throws and got bailed out big time by his play-makers in the second half of that game, especially by Deebo when he was completely uncovered for that long TD catch and run. He's going to get beat up by that Dallas D playing this way.
The Niners had a top 10 offense by EPA per play before Purdy was in the lineup and the reason, they vaulted into the top three wasn’t solely because of Purdy. The teams they faced down the stretch also helped them catapult to the top 3. All the teams they faced were bad operating defenses and other than Miami, all the teams weren’t well oiled offensive machines either.
Brock Purdy has played Tampa, Seattle, Washington, Las Vegas, and Arizona. Las Vegas got beat by Jeff Saturday, we know by now Arizona was beat to a pulp with injuries, a coach that was on his way out, and instability in the management office. Tampa was playing bad football all year. Washington, well you know, it’s Washington.
Dallas will beat SF due to the inexperience of Brock Purdy. The pass rush of Micah Parson and crew will get to Purdy unless he gets the ball out quick. SF on paper has the best defense overall but you can gash them through the air. If Jarrett Stidham didn’t cost the Raiders, the game by turning the ball over and the team had any type of defense they could’ve beat the Niners. The Niners gave up 365 passing yards, 3 Td’s and 34 rushing yards to Jared Stidham. Davante Adams had 153 yds/ 2tds.
They gave up 253 pass yds, 2 Td’s to Geno Smith and Metcalf was responsible for both touchdowns and 136 of those yards. The lack of tackling and defense lead to Seattle getting blown out. Dak is a much better Qb on a team with play-makers on both sides of the ball. Pass rushers that get after you and Dallas getting back linebacker Leighton Van der Esch is a big boost. If Dallas can be diligent with their tackling and Dak play as well as he did last week and up to the competition, which I expect, Brock Purdy’s run will come to an unfortunate end.
If they do happen to win on Saturday, which I don’t think they will, it will be more of the same. Brock still wont do much of anything or because Dallas shot themselves in the foot. Purdy’s inexperience will be a big reason why they won’t win it all. Philly is even a more high powered offense with an MVP QB. Philly won’t struggle to score. A rookie Qb has yet to go to the Super Bowl and win it in the entirety of existence.
This weekend he will come crashing down to Earth. The league now has tape on him so teams will be more prepared for him. We will see what his performance and stats will look like after the sample size grows.
Purdy-Mania is real, for now. But like most manias, it won’t last. It will fizzle out eventually, most likely this weekend.