The 49ers need two things coming out of Sunday’s prime-time game against the Dallas Cowboys:
The first and most important thing is a win.
But almost as necessary is a return to MVP-level play for Brock Purdy.
Yes, this is a must-win game for San Francisco — you don’t get to lose back-to-back games twice in the first half of the season and continue to fancy yourself a Super Bowl contender, much less a favorite (as the Niners recently were). You don’t get to lose to these Cowboys — my goodness, are they awful — and pretend you’re any good yourself.
In short: A win will ensure the 49ers’ season isn’t over before November.
But the 49ers really need Purdy to look like an MVP again to feel like they can do something this winter.
Yes, a win is a win, but tautologies aside, for the Niners, a win with Purdy playing like one of the finest quarterbacks in the NFL on Sunday would speak volumes.
Who cares if the Cowboys are one of the worst defenses in the league?
With Brandon Aiyuk out for the season, Christian McCaffrey not guaranteed to play anytime soon, Deebo Samuel just coming out of the hospital, an offensive line that’s in shambles, and a defense that looks susceptible at all three levels, the Niners need their quarterback — the future $60 million man — to lift it above the fray, no matter the circumstance.
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I’d guess Kyle Shanahan told Purdy as much when he and his quarterback huddled at No. 13’s locker following the Niners’ loss to the Chiefs. From what I could tell, it was a one-sided conversation, with plenty of “yes sir” head nods from the former last pick of the draft.
It’s on his shoulders.
He’s capable. He’s willing. But, ready or not, he now he has to do the job.
“I’m like, ‘Dude, I’ve got to be better for my team right now, for the Dallas Cowboys coming up.’ I’m always trying to find an edge to myself in my game, not thinking about what next year holds,” Purdy said Thursday. “We’re trying to win this Sunday and trying to get our record to get going up. And that’s where my mindset is at. I’m focused on my team, on this year and that’s final. That’s it.””
The Niners shouldn’t have needed the lesson, but they learned firsthand last week that, for all the complexities of the modern NFL, this league is still defined by the quality of a team’s head coach and quarterback.
So far this season, the Niners can’t argue they’re not in correct standing (last place in the NFC West).
Purdy has been (generously) up and down, and Shanahan, perhaps specifically because the Niners have been without McCaffrey, hasn’t shown the kind of innovation and incisiveness we’ve come to expect from the “genius.”
Kansas City has an outstanding defense, but their offense is a mess. But they have Andy Reid — one of the greatest coaches of all time — and a quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, who will likely go down as the greatest of all time. (With apologies to Tom Brady.)
Reid was excellent against the 49ers. Mahomes wasn’t. But that duo found a way (ways?) to decimate the Niners last Sunday. They beat an inferior team, even when they were not at their best.
Have the Niners done that once this season?
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After leading the NFL in QBR last season (73.4 out of 100), Purdy is middle-of-the-pack this campaign.
“I think last year was one of the best years, statistically, ever, when you look at just the efficiency of a whole offense,” Shanahan said Wednesday. “I think it’s hard to do that every year. I think when you’re missing [McCaffrey], that doesn’t help. Missing some receivers doesn’t help him. But I think Brock’s having a hell of a year.”
If that means up and down, Shanahan is right. Purdy has put as much bad as good on the board — three good games, countered by three bad games. There was an average one in there, too, for balance.
That formula cannot hold; a good game must come on Sunday.
Because while Purdy hasn’t been paid the big bucks just yet — that money is merely earmarked for the quarterback — this team has been built around him. That means his game has to improve as the talent around him decreases. If it can’t, is he worth that big-money contract? The Niners still have time to pivot off that plan.
They don’t have the luxury of waiting a few weeks for Purdy’s next-best game, though. Dallas can’t stop the run or the pass, and they can’t run the ball on offense. They have one reliable wide receiver. I don’t care who is out for the Niners — If No. 13 is the quarterback, this should be a romp.
If that’s not good enough — if Purdy’s not good enough — then the Niners can get a very early start on planning for next year.