Brock Purdy needed 12 games to experience his first regular season loss since taking over as the 49ers’ starting quarterback last season.
San Francisco’s perfect 5-0 record was broken by the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, but former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky believes Purdy is still an elite quarterback despite the disappointing loss.
“First of all, yes, I think he’s an elite NFL quarterback because the production is elite,” Orlovsky said on ESPN’s “First Take” on Monday. “I define elite as: What do you do in two different situations? First, when things are really good around you. When we have a good offense, we have a good scheme, we have really good players. Can you play on one?” Incredibly high level and very consistent? Brock Purdy checked this out. Absolutely.
“Or when we’re a little exhausted. Maybe the left tackle isn’t there. Our backup wide receiver has to be No. 1 because the starter is out. Can you carry us just a little? Can you still play at full speed?” We haven’t seen that version of Brock Purdy. We didn’t see that. He was not asked to star in this version. We saw that with Patrick [Mahomes]“We saw that with Josh Allen, we saw it with Lamar Jackson.”
Purdy hasn’t faced much adversity in the pro game, but Sunday’s Week 6 loss could be a wake-up call not only for the 23-year-old quarterback, but for the entire team.
In 2022, the Philadelphia Eagles started the season 8-0 thanks to their explosive offense led by quarterback Jalen Hurts. Hurts finished second in MVP voting last year after totaling nearly 4,500 yards (3,701 passing, 760 rushing) and 35 total touchdowns (22 passing, 13 rushing), leading Philadelphia to a Super Bowl appearance.
While there is still plenty of football to be played this season, Orlovsky believes the same argument that was made for Hurts last year should apply to Purdy this year.
“We have to say the same thing about Brock Purdy,” Orlovsky proclaimed. “We can’t praise Jalen Hurts for it and then praise Brock Purdy for it.”
In Sunday’s loss, Purdy had the worst statistical game of his career, completing just 12 of 27 pass attempts for 125 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The 49ers lost two of their biggest offensive weapons when both Deebo Samuel (shoulder) and Christian McCaffrey (oblique) left the game early, but Purdy took full responsibility for the loss and said he needed to get better.
But before suffering his first regular-season loss, Purdy had completed 245 of 356 pass attempts (68 percent) for 3,125 yards and 25 touchdowns to three interceptions with four additional touchdowns in 13 regular-season and playoff games since taking over as QB1 on the ground already completed in December of last season, with the exception of the NFC Championship Game.
While San Francisco’s first loss of the season strengthened Purdy’s doubters, it also strengthened believers in the young quarterback, who is focused on getting back in the win column.
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