INDIANAPOLIS – Time for another inspiring reminder about Brock Purdy’s rise from NFL irrelevancy.
It’s been three years and 10 months since Purdy came here for the scouting combine. His on-field testing was such a dud that, well, he infamously got drafted last, No. 262 overall, by the 49ers.
“Yeah, I’m not a guy that’s going to really pop when it comes to the testing and all that kind of stuff,” Purdy said after Friday’s practice.
He returns to Lucas Oil Stadium on the threshold of quarterbacking the 49ers (10-4) to their third playoff trip in four years. They control their playoff destiny, so long as they beat the host Colts (8-6) on Monday night and then win at home against Chicago (10-4) and Seattle (12-3).
Not bad for that clean-cut, Iowa State product who ran a 4.84-second 40-yard dash and simply thought “dang, this is pretty cool” to throw alongside seven other quarterbacks who’d get drafted.
“To go back there Monday Night and actually play a game there this time will be really, really cool for me,” Purdy added. “So, just little moments like that you’ve got to appreciate as you go in your career.”
Here are five ways Purdy and the 49ers can win:
1. SCORE IN SPOTLIGHT
The 49ers’ defensive tasks can wait. More pertinent henceforth is Purdy engineering high-scoring games. They’ve won each of their past four by double digits since he returned to the lineup, averaging 31 points per game.
Under the lights this season, the 49ers are 3-0, but they’ve only scored 26, 20 and 20 points in wins over the Rams (26-23), the Falcons (20-10) and the Panthers (20-9). The prime-time spotlight will stay on the 49ers for their next two and possibly three games.
Overlooked are the points they’re getting from Jauan Jennings. His six touchdown catches since Week 9 are tied for the NFL’s second-most behind Davante Adams’ eight. George Kittle, by the way, scored the first of his 51 career touchcowns in the 49ers’ last visit to Indianapolis, back in 2017 on a Brian Hoyer pass en route to an overtime loss.
2. McCAFFREY’S 1K/1K RACE
Speaking of touchdowns, Christian McCaffrey has scored in each game this win streak, and his 14 overall touchdowns aren’t far off the NFL-leading pace set by Colts running back Jonathan Taylor (18).
Perhaps sharing the field with Taylor will inspire McCaffrey, whose season-best output of 129 rushing yards came two months ago to outshine Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson. McCaffrey is 78 rushing yards shy of his fifth 1,000-yard season, and he’s fallen a bit behind in the 1K/1K rushing/receiving quest, needing 180 receiving yards to repeat a feat he pulled off in 2019.
The Colts are allowing the second-fewest yards per carry (3.74) and sixth-fewest rushing yards per game (99.1), though that’s countered by their 31st-ranked pass defense (247.6 ypg).
McCaffrey described the Colts as a “super downhill” team, which could be bringing 49ers’ All-Pro defensive tackle DeForest Buckner off injured reserve.
“He’s an all-around elite player and has been since he’s been here (on the 49ers),” McCaffrey said of Buckner.
3. TACKLING TAYLOR
There have been far too many missed tackles this season – 26 in the past two games, per Pro Football Focus – and rectifying that is an obvious storyline when opposing the NFL’s leading rusher in Taylor (1,443 yards). Linebacker Dee Winters, safety Malik Mustapha and cornerbacks Deommodore Lenoir and Upton Stout must tackle better (and interceptions would help, but more on that later).
Taylor’s production has declined over the Colts’ four-game skid: 76 yards per game, one touchdown.
Bolstering the 49ers’ front are potential returns of defensive linemen Jordan Elliott (knee), Sam Okuayinonu (ankle) and Yetur Gross-Matos (hamstring; injured reserve). Linebacker Tatum Bethune (ankle) should reclaim the starting role from Curtis Robinson, and Eric Kendricks could make his 49ers debut if one week of practice is enough to get the 11th-year veteran sprung from the practice squad.
4. RIVERS’ AURA
What the 49ers need to take away from Philip Rivers’ first game since 2020 was his ability to deliver a go-ahead, last-minute drive in Seattle last Sunday, never mind that the Colts squandered things and still lost. The 49ers shouldn’t be fooled by his pedestrian stat line: 120 yards, 18-of-27, one touchdown, one interception, one sack.
“Every ball goes right to the exact spot. He attacked their coverages great,” coach Kyle Shanahan said of that tape. “He played against a very good pass rush and was able to get rid of the ball. He’s one of the best quarterbacks I’ve ever watched and he definitely helped that team.”
Shanahan thought so highly of him three years ago he literally had Rivers on-call – and streaming their offensive meetings – in case they needed him to start over Purdy, especially had they pulled off an NFC Championship win in Philadelphia after Purdy’s injury.
Rivers is 4-0 all-time against the 49ers.
5. WARREN’S PRESENCE
Ten months ago in Indianapolis at the pre-draft scouting combine, tight end Tyler Warren said the 49ers had a “fun scheme” and saw a “great opportunity” to pair with and learn from Kittle. Alas, the 49ers bypassed Warren at No. 11 to draft defensive end Mykel Williams, and the Colts snatched up Warren at No. 14.
Now that scorned versatile player might want to stick it to the 49ers, who’ve allowed six touchdowns to tight ends in the past six games.
Warren (6-foot-6, 256 pounds) has racked up 63 catches for 718 yards and four touchdowns. He also has a touchdown among six carries, and he’s even attempted a pass.