Purdy 'playing as good as it gets'; 49ers eye 1-seed

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- On a night when the San Francisco 49ers were without All Pro tight end George Kittle and All Pro left tackle Trent Williams for all but one snap, the weight of their playoff positioning fell squarely in the lap of quarterback Brock Purdy.

Purdy was up to the challenge. Behind Purdy's five total touchdowns (two rushing, three passing), the Niners outlasted the Chicago Bears 42-38 in a wild shootout on Sunday Night Football. It's San Francisco's first time scoring 40-plus points in back-to-back games since November 1995.

With the win, the 49ers improved to 12-4 and will host the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday night with a whole lot on the line: the NFC West division title, the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs and home-field advantage throughout the postseason. For the Niners, that could mean even more with Super Bowl LX set to be played at Levi's Stadium.

To achieve any of those goals, the Niners will undoubtedly look to Purdy to continue performing like one of the league's best and most efficient quarterbacks.

"It's his best [football] right now," right tackle Colton McKivitz said. "And it's when his best is needed. This is what this team needs is this offense to come in and score and score a lot ... The way he's playing, it's awesome. To have a leader like that go and command the huddle and playing at that level, it's a great confidence builder for us."

While Purdy has had his share of hot streaks since taking over as San Francisco's starting quarterback in 2022, there's an argument to be made that he's playing better than ever right now on a team that doesn't have nearly the skill position star power of those squads.

Purdy's pertinence was laid bare Sunday night in a game that nearly came down to which team had the ball last. After throwing a pick-6 on the first play of the game, Purdy rebounded with a nearly flawless effort. He finished 24-of-33 for 303 yards and three scores with the interception, adding six carries for 28 yards and two more scores.

Including Monday night's win against the Indianapolis Colts in which Purdy threw five touchdown passes, he's now accounted for at least five total scores in two consecutive games. He's the first Niners quarterback to accomplish that feat and one of six quarterbacks ever to do it in at least two consecutive games, joining Tom Brady (2007), Russell Wilson (2020), Deshaun Watson (2017), Ben Roethlisberger (2014) and Daunte Culpepper (2004).

Purdy also became the first 49ers quarterback with at least three passing and two rushing touchdowns in a game since Jeff Garcia did it against the Cardinals in Week 14 of 2003. Of his 33 pass attempts, Purdy had just two off-target throws against Chicago.

"I thought Brock had a hell of a game," coach Kyle Shanahan said. "Brock has been playing his ass off, made some huge plays in this game. Kept some drives alive with his legs, made some off schedule plays and he's an assassin out there ... he's playing as good as it gets right now."

There are plenty of numbers to support the idea that Purdy is playing as well as any quarterback in the NFL since returning from a right big toe injury in Week 11. In that time, Purdy ranks third in the NFL in QBR (80.0) and touchdown passes per game (2.67), second in completion percentage over expectation (7.5%), ninth in passing yards per game (242.3), fifth in yards per attempt (7.9) and has the lowest off-target throw percentage in the league (10.3%).

At the heart of Purdy's success has been an improved recognition of when to use his legs to gain yards and create space to throw. That was on full display on his third-quarter touchdown pass to Kyle Juszczyk in which he evaded multiple defenders and found Juszczyk alone in the end zone on a play Shanahan said made him "extremely nervous" then "extremely happy."

"It's just one of those things where it's football and it's going to happen," Purdy said. "How can I be smart outside of the design of the play but also have my eyes down field because guys are moving and working and there are explosive plays out there. I feel like it's something that I sort of continue to learn as I go. It's part of my game."

Purdy and the 49ers now have a second consecutive short week of preparation before Sunday's showdown with the Seahawks. Just like in 2019, the NFC's top seed will come down to a final week meeting against Seattle with significant playoff stakes. The 49ers won that game when linebacker Dre Greenlaw tackled Seahawks tight end Jacob Hollister at the 1 as time expired to send the 49ers to victory and, eventually, an appearance in Super Bowl LIV.

While Shanahan wasn't thrilled with having another short week after the NFL announced the schedule Sunday night, he made sure his team was aware of what's in front of it in Week 18.

"It's huge," Shanahan said. "So proud of the guys throughout the whole year, proud of today. It's a hell of a deal being able to have the opportunity to play for the 1-seed and these guys have earned it."