The first round of the NFL postseason is now behind us as Super Wild Card Weekend provided some excellent games. Only eight teams are remaining in the chase for the Lombardi Trophy as the San Francisco 49ers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills, New York Giants, Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys have all advanced.
Those six teams will be joining the No. 1 seeded Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC and Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC in the Divisional Round. There were some incredible performances by players in every game, with some helping their team to victory and others having standout performances despite their team falling short.
Narrowing down which performances stood out above the rest isn’t an easy task, but we tried our hand at it. Here are the top five standout performances by players from Super Wild Card Weekend.
5. QB Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
Teams are always on the search for a franchise quarterback. The San Francisco 49ers were betting on Trey Lance being that player when they traded up in the 2021 NFL Draft to select him No. 3 overall. A broken ankle ended his season prematurely, thrusting Jimmy Garoppolo back into the starting role.
When Garoppolo hurt his foot, unheralded rookie, Brock Purdy, Mr. Irrelevant himself in the 2022 NFL Draft, became the starter. Could San Francisco have stumbled upon their new franchise quarterback with the Iowa State product?
Purdy was outstanding in his appearances during the regular season and that didn’t change during Super Wild Card Weekend. Purdy was incredible once again, completing 18-of-30 passes for 332 yards and three touchdowns. He added four carries for 16 yards and another score on the ground.
It was a historic performance by Purdy and there is no end in sight to his success. He has thrown 2+ touchdowns in every appearance this season and the 49ers have won 11 games in a row.
