Brock Purdy will not succeed at Lincoln Financial Field
Lachlan Cunningham/AP Photo
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has been one heck of a story.
Purdy was the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft and has now turned into one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, leading his team to the NFC Championship Game against the Eagles in Philadelphia.
From what I have been hearing, people think Purdy is going to stroll into Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday afternoon in front of 70,000 who dropped $850 on tickets and parking and steal a win.
No way.
Purdy has played two road games in his NFL career, which has only been eight games, against non-competitive teams in the Seattle Seahawks and the Las Vegas Raiders.
Starting with the game against the Seahawks in Week 15, just Purdy’s third NFL game and his first on the road, Purdy was 17/26 for 217 yards and two touchdowns. Those two touchdown passes were both for 20+ yards, with the second one being a 54-yarder to tight end George Kittle. Kittle, for a matter of fact, had both touchdowns thrown by Purdy.
Yes, this was a good game from Purdy in what is a very loud stadium in Seattle. However, the Seahawks were 7-7 at this point, while the 49ers were 10-4. See the difference?
Looking ahead to the second time Purdy played Seattle, he dropped 41 points on them at home.
Purdy performed worse on the road.
For the Vegas game, Purdy went up against a team with a record of 6-10, and they barely pulled out the win. This game went to overtime.
Is this Purdy’s fought? No. The defense gave up 34 points to the sorry Raiders. Purdy was able to lift the 49ers to 37 points with a stat line of 22/35 for 284 yards, one touchdown, and an interception, just getting the three-point win against one of the biggest let-down teams this season.
So those were his two games on the road in the NFL. Both were victories, but both were not over-the-top showings against two bad teams.
Purdy, in his eight-game NFL career, has beaten teams with a combined 60-63-1 record.
The only “real team”, as some may say, Purdy has beaten was the 12-5 Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Divisional Round in San Francisco. Purdy did not perform well. He went 19/29 for 214 yards throwing zero touchdowns. Purdy’s longest reception of the game was an overthrown 29-yarder to Kittle, who somehow pulled it in after performing a juggling act.
This was one of, if not Purdy’s worst game in his very short NFL career, and it came in his biggest. And it was at home.
Now Purdy will be playing the biggest game of his life in Philadelphia in front of 70,000 drunk, loud, rowdy Eagles fans who just dropped $850 on a ticket and parking.
I am not anti-Purdy at all. I think it is a fantastic, Cinderella story. However, he is not going to perform well on Sunday at the Linc, and it will affect the entire team.
I hope you are correct. It will be his biggest game ever, if the pressure gets to him he will be prone to making mistakes both mental and physical.