San Francisco 49ers third-string quarterback Brock Purdy deserves credit for how he looked in his first career start, especially given the fact Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were on the opposing sideline.
Purdy impressed as the 49ers pantsed the Buccaneers in a lopsided rout at Levi's Stadium on Sunday. While San Francisco's league-best defense played a major role in the 35-7 result, Purdy and the offense scored touchdowns on four of their first six possessions. The final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft completed 16 of his 21 passes for 185 yards and two passing touchdowns while adding another score on the ground.
Purdy's performance -- which earned a notable rating of 134.0 -- garnered praise from his teammates, coaches and even Brady.
"It was real impressive how he played and I thought it was real similar to the week before," 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters after the win, per the team.
Shanahan explained how Purdy, who replaced the injured Jimmy Garoppolo in San Francisco's Week 13 win, was responsible for the full gameplan with the offensive guru not pulling any punches. Shanahan threw the full plan at Purdy last Sunday. Purdy dazzled with his decision-making and pocket awareness, showing more athleticism than the veteran Garoppolo in the process, and that prompted Shanahan to hint there might be more quarterback-designed runs in his future.
"He reacts and runs around and makes some plays. And that's how he was in college and that's how he's been so far in the league," Shanahan told reporters. "When you do that, it's how many good plays you make without making the bad ones, and he's done that really well so far."
Shanahan added: "I'm just happy that he was able to go out there and perform at the level a lot of us thought that he was capable of and I know the players felt that way, the coaches felt that way. And guys played really good around him, too. I was just happy for him cause that's kind of what we've seen from him."
Christian McCaffrey looked like his All-Pro self with 119 of San Francisco's 209 rushing yards. However, the 49ers suffered another injury scare with Deebo Samuel exiting the game due to a high-ankle sprain.
