Brock Purdy remains undefeated in games he's started and finished and just led the 49ers to a 42-10 demolition of the Cowboys.
Few quarterbacks in the NFL can claim to be producing at the same level as the 49ers' starter through the first five weeks of the season. Yet discussion of the performances of the final pick in the 2022 draft often sees caveats placed on his excellent play, primarily concerning the advantages he has helming an offense run by arguably the finest play-caller in the league in Kyle Shanahan.
However, after Purdy threw for four touchdowns for the first time in his career in their Sunday Night Football beatdown of Dallas, his 49er teammates were in no mood to place any qualifiers on what he has achieved coming off elbow surgery in 2023.
Reigning Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa was the most bullish in his praise of Purdy, telling his post-game press conference: "Brock is playing as one of the best quarterbacks in the league."
Expanding on that assessment, Bosa indicated that the offense is able to do much more with Purdy at the helm than they were in previous years when Jimmy Garoppolo was at the controls, even in the 2019 season when the 49ers made the Super Bowl.
He added: "2019 was majority run game, and now we can attack any which way."
The numbers bear Bosa's words out. Purdy, per NextGen Stats, completed 7 of his 10 passes of 10 air yards or more against the Cowboys for 166 yards and three of his four touchdown passes. He leads the NFL in completion percentage (72.1) on passes of that distance in 2023.
Purdy finished 17 of 24 for 252 yards before Sam Darnold took over for garbage time, and head coach Shanahan could find few holes to poke in his display.
"He was really good," said Shanahan. "Everybody was pretty good but I thought he missed one throw throughout the day, just a little behind B.A. [Brandon Aiyuk] in the first quarter on one. "Everything else seemed pretty flawless."
Added Shanahan: "He was fun to coach today."
The 49ers have now scored 30 points in each of their first five games to start the season, a feat only achieved by only five other teams in the Super Bowl era.
Marveling at their output, linebacker Fred Warner said: "The way the offense is playing is unlike anything I've seen.
"That lets me know that as long as we [the defense] do our job, we're going to have a chance."
With Purdy playing at this level and Warner, who had a forced fumble and an interception, leading by example for a stellar defense, the 49ers have a chance for a special season that could end with them winning the ultimate prize.
The more he continues to oversee such remarkable production, the more those determined to attach caveats to Purdy's name will have to accept a reality that Bosa and Co. are extremely happy to embrace.
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