If there were any people who had any doubts about the San Francisco 49ers coming into the 2023 season, they have erased those. They have cemented their status as the top dog in the NFL, dismantling whoever the opponent is in front of them that week.
The 49ers are currently 5-0 as they have scored 30+ points in every game. Only one team, the Los Angeles Rams, who kicked a field goal as time expired, have lost by single-digit points. It has been a truly dominant start that has shown no signs of slowing down.
A leading force behind their high level of play has been the performance of Brock Purdy. At this point, it is hard to imagine that his success is a fluke. Purdy is now 10-0 as a starter in the regular season, with his only career loss being the NFC Championship Game when he was injured on the first drive.
Every time he steps on the field he seems to be accomplishing an NFL first. This season he has upped his level of performance, completing 72.1 percent of his passes for 1,271 yards and nine touchdowns without an interception.
No one could have seen this kind of production coming from Mr. Irrelevant in the 2022 NFL Draft who had some rough viral plays from his college days at Iowa State. While Purdy has looked legit, there are still some people downplaying his performance.
One of those people is former NFL quarterback and current analyst, Dan Orlovsky. Orlovsky didn’t bash the play of Purdy, but when talking about the struggles of New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones, said that he would be doing the same thing as Purdy in the 49ers’ offense.
It would be easy to take Orlovsky’s comments as a shot at Purdy, which his 49ers teammates did. Tight end George Kittle went on Murph & Mac on KNBR and said those comments were disrespectful toward his quarterback.
Jones got off to a solid start in his career with the Patriots, making the Pro Bowl as a rookie. But he has seen his career spiral downward since as New England has done little to provide him support.
The opposite can be said about the 49ers, who have given Purdy everything he needs to succeed. He is making the most of his opportunities and will continue proving people like Orlovsky wrong. Playing in Kyle Shanahan’s system certainly helps, but you still need to execute and he is doing that to perfection.
