Nearly three years since Brock Purdy left Lincoln Financial Field with his elbow obliterated and his Super Bowl dreams crushed, he found glory in the same setting.
Down in the fourth quarter after his second interception led to a go-ahead Philadelphia Eagles field goal, Purdy was unfazed and unflinching. The San Francisco 49ers QB was 5 of 7 for 42 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey, on the game-winning 66-yard march to lift San Francisco to a 23-19 triumph over the Eagles.
Not only did Purdy have to rally his squad from a deficit, but he also had to overcome a pair of interceptions that made a win all the more arduous.
“Brock had a couple mistakes, obviously, with his two picks and stuff, but to come back on that last drive and get us in the end zone, lead us all the way down there,” Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan said of his quarterback’s performance, “and get to like the third guy in his progression on the touchdown, real proud of the guys.”
Had this been a storybook showing for Purdy in his playoff return to Philly, he would have put up some sterling statistics. Instead, this was a gutsy performance (18 of 31 for 262 yards, two touchdowns and two INTs) from the QB and the 49ers, emblematic of a season in which they’ve overcome a litany of injuries. They did so again Sunday when they lost tight end George Kittle to a torn Achilles.
“I think it shows how they’ve been all year,” Shanahan said regarding what the victory said about his team. “They’ve been resilient all year. They’ve overcome a lot. They believe in each other a ton, and we knew we couldn’t come in here and just win by certain guys making plays. We knew we had to come in here and win as a complete team, and I really believe we played as a complete team today and that’s what we got it done.”
When it got done, Purdy was at the controls. Both his interceptions were in the second half, but as has been accustomed with Purdy and his shooters-shoot mentality, he kept on slinging it.
“The game is still there to go take,” he said. “I was just being real with myself and leaning into my faith and understanding that I’ve got to hold all this loosely, but try to go do God’s will. And that’s every drive. Same thing happened at the end of the game. We needed to go do it. I just kept my mind fresh and go play one play at a time, every play has a life of its own, and still have that attack mentality every single play. That’s how I did it.”