SANTA CLARA – You could feel the strain Sunday at Levi's Stadium when rookie Isaac Guerendo fouled the second-half kickoff and the New England Patriots quickly scored with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Jacoby Brissett to Austin Hooper.

A game wherein the 49ers had led 20-0 suddenly became 20-10, and it was hard to not think in regards to the previous week's collapse against the Los Angeles Rams, which was due partially to special teams errors .

The usual script was for quarterback Brock Purdy to revive order as he normally does – with a series of short, sure completions and a time-consuming drive that may put the Patriots back on their heels.

Instead, Purdy dropped back and dropped an ideal 53-yard arc into the arms of Deebo Samuel over Jonathan Jones.

Deebo took us 55 yards.

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— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) September 29, 2024

Three plays later, Jordan Mason scored on a 4-yard run, the 49ers led 27-10 and order was restored with an eventual 30-13 victory.

This was one other side of Purdy, who proves week after week that he’s probably the greatest quarterbacks within the NFL. Call this version “Bombs Away Brock,” as Purdy repeatedly attacked the Patriots downfield, completing 15 of 27 passes for 288 yards and a 12-yard touchdown pass to George Kittle.

That's a whopping 19.2 yards per completion, and so they weren't of the run-after-catch variety. Teams are aware that the 49ers attack from below with shallow crosses and the like, and have designed their defense to give you the option to defend against that.

“There were a couple plays in that game where their safeties were low and we had guys going deep with Deebo and JJ,” Purdy said. “We talked about it on the sidelines and let it rip, and I trust these guys to get through it, and they did. “It was nice to make contact on those deeper routes, get those on tape and provides us something Giving confidence as we move forward with the deep ball.”

In addition to the 53-yard pass to Purdy, there was a 45-yard strike to Jauan Jennings, 38 yards to Brandon Aiyuk and a 32-yard strike to Jennings. At least for a day, dink and dunk gave option to the vertical game. Purdy is greater than a yr faraway from internal elbow brace surgery, has worked diligently to strengthen his arm, and it's clear he has the strength he needs and more to tackle any route that’s required of him.

The 45-yard pass to Jennings to Marcus Jones was actually well defended, however the pass was beautiful and virtually not possible to defend.

If you take heed to coach Kyle Shanahan, nothing Purdy does surprises him. Purdy was his quarterback for 30 starts, including the postseason. He's learned that there's no play he can't call because Purdy isn't physically as much as the duty.

JJ is down there somewhere

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“I think Brock has been good at the dropback game, the play-action game, bootlegs and stuff since his first game here,” Shanahan said. “Brock has been one of the most consistent players in the league since he started playing.”

Seeing Purdy throw accurate rainbows puts defenses in trouble. If he can win up top as easily as down and in addition attack in midfield, that makes the 49ers' passing game dangerous on every blade of grass.

“People are scheduling us and they're doing a good job of building pressure and taking away certain routes and it's a good opportunity for us to adjust and work on different things,” Purdy said. “Every team presents a different challenge. There were a lot of men this week and they did a good job of getting everything back in the middle of the field.”

Purdy's touchdown pass to Kittle hit three defenders on a route originally designed for the run from the 40-yard line. Kittle was skeptical but kept his feelings to himself.

“The play was him breaking out and going up,” Purdy said. “It was more of a third-down game, but we got the look down there. I saw him break out, I got hit, so I thought I just have to give my guy a chance. Just set it up for him. He made a great play – much better than the throw.”

This is our TE @gkittle46

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The deep punches are only a part of Purdy's growing skills. As he showed in last yr's playoffs, Purdy is recuperating at getting first downs together with his feet. He measured two perfect scrambles in the primary half – seven yards on third-and-3 and five yards on third-and-4 – to maintain a drive alive that was capped by a 26-yard field goal by Jake Moody for the lead led.

Last week, Purdy had 10 runs, and it's not like Shanahan is picking read option plays.

“I’m not going to pretend to throw and then run to make a play,” Purdy said. “It's not like that. I'm still a quarterback. I'm trying to go through my readings, meet my guys and move the chains. That's the position I play and I'm proud of it. . . . I feel like I have just the right amount of athleticism to make plays. I don't have to be a freak athlete. I know who I am.”

The 49ers now have a good time each time Purdy's abilities are disparaged in any way.

“He’s the best, man,” middle linebacker Fred Warner said. “I love the way he plays the game, the leader that he is. He doesn't say much, but he doesn't have to. He has such a humble approach and continues to get better in all phases of his game because he knows what it takes to win.”

It wasn't perfect. Purdy was too daring when Jabril Peppers intercepted a pass intended for Aiyuk late ultimately zone, a play for which he took full responsibility.

“I think I reached out to him two or three times, which is just not good as a quarterback,” Purdy said. “I got greedy and Jabril pulled a prank.”

Kittle and the 49ers will forgive the occasional mistake since it shows the trust Purdy has in his receivers.

“The deep ball he threw to Jauan just gave us confidence to go out and make plays,” Kittle said. “We have a lot of talented players, a lot of guys who can catch a football. We have a lot of people he just trusts.”

Originally published: September 29, 2024 at 6:43 p.m