It hasn’t felt like there’s been a dominant team in the NFL this year. The closest team to grab that title has to have been the Eagles, which if you had listened to me…
…you would have taken home a fair amount of Loot (Broncos predictions not withstanding). But even the Eagles have looked beatable throughout the year, losing to the Commanders and Saints at home, and losing to the Cowboys (without Jalen Hurts, but still).
Every other team has a major weakness. The Chiefs defense and lack of weapons have made them look the most vulnerable that I’ve seen in the Mahomes era. The Bills have no running game. The Bengals secondary has been leaky and their pass protection is lacking. Tampa Bay is, quite frankly, just a bad team that made the playoffs because of their pathetically weak division. The Giants defense has been bad. The Cowboys and Chargers have been doing Cowboys and Chargers things (As I write this, the Chargers are in the midst of blowing a 27 point lead).
For the 49ers, it’s the same issue they’ve been dealing with the entire John Lynch/Kyle Shanahan Era – Is their QB good enough?
What a lost year of growth for Trey Lance this turned out to be. Obviously no one knows what Lance can be as quarterback in this league, but his ceiling is elite. He has the speed and elusiveness to be in the same tier as Justin Fields or Lamar Jackson as a runner, and he has a cannon for an arm. What a shame it is Lance got hurt less than two games into the year.
So San Francisco turned back to Jimmy G.
Has there ever been a QB in NFL history as disgustingly average as Jimmy Garropolo? He’s not good enough to feel confident about his chances of leading you to a Super Bowl, but he’s not bad enough to even be excited about what his potential could be. Give me a choice between watching a Jimmy G led offense and a Carson Wentz led offense, I’ll choose the Wentz offense every time. What can I say, I’d rather watch a car crash than a guy consistently driving the speed limit.
Suddenly though, Mr. Irrelevant has given the Bay Area hope.
Brock Purdy, who at this time last year was probably on a bender during his last semester in Ames, Iowa, is suddenly drawing Tom Brady comparisons among the 49er faithful.
All I know is this: Brock Purdy should be thanking his lucky stars for whatever forces in the universe put him in charge of this San Francisco offense and team.
His weapons are ridiculous.
Christian McCaffery, Deebo Samuel, and George Kittle on the same offense should be illegal. Pair that with Brandon Aiyuk, Kyle Juszczyk, Elijah Mitchell, Jauan Jennings, and one the best offensive lines in the NFL, and we might be looking one of the most talented combination of offensive weapons in NFL history. All of that without even mentioning the fact they have the best defense in the NFL… Absolutely zero weaknesses on that side of the ball.
So my message to Brock Purdy?
Just don’t fuck it up.
Run the Shanahan offense. Don’t be stupid. Put it in the hands of your playmakers and let your defense do their thing. Do that Brock Purdy and you’ll have an incredible opportunity to go from last player taken in the draft, to folk hero of an incredible football market of San Francisco/the Bay Area.
To be clear, I’m not saying Purdy’s a shlub. He’s shown flashes and has overall been pretty solid. In his first career playoff game against the Seahawks, he showed major Cajones.
What a fuckin’ ride this family has been on.
It’s hard not to root for the kid.
It’s all in front of him. Brock Purdy has as good of opportunity as anyone in the history of the league has had being put in his position.
So can he do it?
Can he bring the most talented roster in the NFL to the promise land?
Hop on this wild ride and let’s find out together.
-Mustache Man
