After the euphoric breakout season that Brock Purdy had last year, things have taken a nosedive for the 49ers QB. With the NFC West on the verge of not qualifying [5-7] for the playoffs, Purdy has been facing the brunt of the criticism. Analyst Chris Broussard, however, believes that a lot of the hate against Purdy is unwarranted.
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In the latest edition of “First Things First”, Broussard labeled the criticisms against Purdy as an expectation mismatch issue. The analyst argued that if one were to compare Purdy with tier 1 QBs like Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow and Josh Allen, the 49ers star’s current performances will obviously look poor.
But Broussard believed that Purdy should be rather compared to playmakers who are on a similar level to him. The tier 2 level, as Chris noted, consisted of Purdy, Dak Prescott, Matthew Stafford, and Jared Goff and amongst them, Purdy has been better, if not best, as the analyst argued.
Chris further noted that the one thing common in this crop of playmakers is that all of them have suffered a dip in their output when they lost key auxiliary pieces around them. Still, when compared to his tier 2 peers, Brock has put up similar numbers, despite suffering a bigger loss.
Not only did Brock lose his key attackers in CMC and Brandon Aiyuk, but he also saw his defense going from “third best scoring-wise to 24th”. The 49ers also have the second most injuries this season.
Considering all this, Brock, managing to put up a similar number to his peers, is quite impressive for Chris. And this is why the leading analyst urged fans to not be extra harsh on the 49ers star.
“The defense has plummeted from third best scoring wise to 24th that injuries. They have the second most injuries in the league as far as starters missing games because of injury. And his two favorite targets, Aiyuk and McCaffrey, skill positions have been out essentially all season. And he’s still putting up good numbers, solid numbers, and he’s giving them the lead.”
Considering the number of times the 49ers defense has failed to hold on to the lead after Purdy’s exit, Broussard’s argument does look credible. That said, Brock can still tune around the criticisms by helping the 49ers secure a miraculous playoff qualification. The question, however, remains: Is he fit enough?
Brock Purdy is likely to be available for the crucial Week 14 clash against the Bears
After missing Week 12 due to a shoulder injury, Brock Purdy showed up for the Week 13 clash against the Bills, not looking his best. This was evident in the score too, as the Bills blew apart the 49ers 35-10, with Purdy failing to score a single TD.
Amidst doubts once again for the Week 14 clash, HC Kyle Shanahan confirmed the QB’s participation in the practice sessions, signaling his presence in the crucial matchup against the Bears.
The next 5 outings are crucial for the 49ers because of how tight the NFC West standings are. Even though Kyle Shanahan’s unit currently find itself at the bottom, three consecutive wins and a few favorable results can easily get them back into playoff contention.
This is possible because the Seahawks [7-5], Cardinals [6-6], and the Rams [6-6] are in a similar position to that of the 49ers. With two head-to-head group clashes [Rams and Cardinals] and 2 relatively winnable clashes [Bears and Dolphins] in their next 5, Purdy has to come clutch and deliver the goods.
Despite the stellar last 5 years the 49ers have had, it would be mightily impressive if they manage to make the playoff this year with the injury bug. It’s clear that Purdy has a crucial stretch of games ahead of him that will impact both playoffs and his impending contract talks.
