San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy shined with a perfect 158.3 passer rating in the team’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. It’s the first time a 49ers passer has accomplished this feat since Joe Montana in 1989. Here’s what you need to know:
- Purdy completed 21 of 25 passes for 333 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, resulting in a perfect rating.
- The 49ers QB threw touchdown passes to Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey.
- On November 12, 1989, against the Atlanta Falcons, Montana completed 16 of his 19 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns in San Francisco’s 45-3 victory. He also rushed for a touchdown that day.
- San Francisco defeated Tampa Bay 27-14 and improved to 7-3 in 2023.
GO DEEPER
NFL QB EPA Rankings: Dak Prescott moves up, Josh Allen moves down and is Russell Wilson back?
NFL Week 11 results: Live updates, schedule, highlights, reaction, odds and news
No more stuttering for San Francisco
The 49ers sputtered as a team toward the end, allowing Tampa Bay to make them sweat a bit, but Purdy was sensational and San Francisco built a big lead. The big highlight was Purdy’s perfect 76-yard strike to Aiyuk, who caught five passes for 156 yards. But Purdy did much more than that, pressuring Tampa Bay’s attack-happy defense for the second straight game with a bevy of surgically placed intermediate passes (remember, his first career start came last year against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers). . He also fought for a crucial first down at the end of the game.
Purdy is the first quarterback in 49ers franchise history to finish a game with at least 20 attempts and a perfect passer rating. He also became the 22nd quarterback in NFL history to finish a game with at least 25 attempts and a perfect rating.
With a large lead in all efficiency categories among NFL quarterbacks – a lead that only gets larger today – Purdy should absolutely be one of the frontrunners in the MVP conversation as the final stretch of this 2023 season approaches. — David Lombardi, 49ers staff writer
No shock to Purdy
The 49ers passer posted the best pass rating of his career in Week 10 when his team beat the Jacksonville Jaguars. That’s saying something because it was the third time Purdy posted a passer rating above 140.0 in 17 NFL starts. He added a fourth time on Sunday. Therefore, the fact that he has actually achieved a perfect passing percentage this season should come as no surprise at this point.
Purdy entered this week leading the NFL in expected points added per dropback via TruMedia with a rate of 0.28 and a passer rating of 109.9. After Week 11 against the Bucs, Purdy’s numbers increased to a 0.30 EPA rate and a 115.1 passer rating. —Larry Holder, senior NFL writer
Required reading
(Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)