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nick wagner
INDIANAPOLIS — After a series of disappointing performances on “Monday Night Football” san francisco 49ers quarterback brock purdy Whatever problems he had, he solved them in a forceful manner.
with 44 year old colts quarterback philip rivers And while his comeback grabbed most of the headlines in Monday night’s matchup, it was Purdy who stole the show, leading San Francisco to the win. win 48-27 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Purdy completed 25 of 34 passing for 295 yards with five touchdowns and one interception as the Niners improved to 11–4 and put themselves in position to clinch the NFC’s No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
It was the first five-touchdown performance of Purdy’s career, and he became the first Niners quarterback to throw for five or more scores on a Monday night. He became the first San Francisco signal-caller to toss five or more scores in any game since Steve Young in Super Bowl XXIX.
“He played great,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “He played really well. I met him a few times [throws] He missed, but it was pretty close to a perfect game.”
This has become a common occurrence for Shanahan during the Niners’ five-game winning streak. Over that span, the Niners have won every contest by double digits and averaged a league-high 34.4 points.
After a tough outing against carolina panthers On November 25, Purdy threw nine touchdowns with one interception and posted an 85.7 QBR, second best in the NFL.
San Francisco’s offense has been so dominant that the team has not even been able to punt in 133 minutes and 35 seconds of playing time. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this is the first time since at least 1950 that the 49ers have won two straight games without punting, and they are one of six teams to accomplish this feat in the regular season during the Super Bowl era.
Purdy’s success after missing eight games with a toe injury has the Niners believing he is close to being as healthy as he has been for a full season. Seeing was believing on Monday night.
“When you’re in that crowd, there’s only one voice speaking,” left tackle trent williams Said. “You’ve got 10 grown men staring at you and you can’t fool grown men. The confidence that that group has…from A to Z, he does it at a really high level. I say it all the time. He’s a godsend.”
Perhaps most encouraging was how Purdy did most of his damage. In his first six games this season, Purdy had two touchdowns and six interceptions on passes thrown more than 10 yards.
Against the Colts, Purdy was on time and on target, taking several deep shots. He completed 12 of 16 passes for 213 yards and a pair of touchdowns on such throws against the Colts’ injury-plagued secondary and finished with a season-high 9.4 air yards per attempt.
He did so on Monday night, undoubtedly allaying fears that Purdy would continue to struggle on that stage. In his last five Monday contests, Purdy has thrown five touchdown passes and had 11 interceptions, helping the Niners go 2-3.
Purdy admitted after Monday’s win that he has a tendency to apply pressure in those situations, which may have something to do with the loss on Christmas night in 2023. Baltimore Ravens In which he threw four interceptions. He said he has grown up since then.
,[I’m] “Don’t let the season and the atmosphere or situation of the game dictate how I go out and think throughout the game,” Purdy said. “I feel like right now, I’ve just got to do my best one game at a time. That Christmas game a few years ago was like, ‘Man, we’re on Christmas, Monday night, MVP talk, like I got a few plays done early in the game and felt good.’ And then after that, I’m getting complacent in my studies and studying the material and making the right decisions. [I] “Definitely learned from it, but there’s still room for improvement.”
As has been the case often this season, the 49ers did not leave Monday’s game without injury questions. tight end george kittel He was in the midst of a 7-catch, 115-yard, 1-touchdown performance when he left in the third quarter with an ankle injury.
Kittle said he first hurt his ankle early in the game, believing it to be a hip-drop tackle and although he tried to play through it, the pain got to the point where it made no sense to continue. The team is ready for further tests when it returns to the Bay Area on Tuesday.
“I don’t think it’s a high ankle sprain,” Kittle said. “We’ll take it one day at a time, and we’ll go from there.”
49ers turn their attention to hosting Chicago Bears And Seattle Seahawks to close the regular season. Wins in both games would secure the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs and the postseason would go through Levi’s Stadium, home of Super Bowl LX.
It’s something that seemed far-fetched for the Niners just six weeks ago, but now it’s within reach, albeit against much tougher competition.
“When you know you’re in the playoffs, you change your goal and try to make the playoffs in the best situation possible,” Shanahan said. “We would have loved to try to play a home game at Levi’s. We knew the only way to do that was to win against the Colts tonight. We did that.”
