The San Francisco 49ers are preparing to head to Las Vegas and prepare for a Super Bowl matchup against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Mahomes has plenty of experience in the big game, but Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers will be leaning on second-year NFL player and the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft Brock Purdy to lead their offense to another Lombardi Trophy.
Purdy led the 49ers to an NFC-best 12-5 record in his first full season as a starter and helped them reach the NFC Championship games in two-consecutive seasons. Last season the 49ers lost to the Philadelphia Eagles when Purdy went down with an injury.
The second-year QB tallied 4,280 passing yards in 16 starts to go along with 31 touchdowns. He led the NFL in several categories, including yards per attempt, passer rating and QBR.
Brock Purdy is an MVP candidate and he’s going to the Super Bowl in his first full season as a starting quarterback. Has he finally silenced his critics?
The San Francisco 49ers signal caller still has doubters despite proving them wrong time and time again.
His supporters will point out that Purdy led two comebacks in the playoffs — one against the Packers and one against the Lions. Critics had questioned whether Purdy could play well when trailing because he rarely trailed during the regular season. But he addressed that concern with big-time second-half playoff performances at home.
His last two performances — with adversity staring him in the face — may be the most telling about Purdy heading into the biggest game of his career. He handled them with poise, just as a veteran would, and rose to the occasion when his team needed it the most.
San Francisco 49ers Owner Jed York Shares Story About Kyle Shanahan Revealing Brock Purdy Was The Team’s Best QB In 2023
Jed York, the owner of the 49ers, recently met with the media leading into his team’s trip to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl.
He shared a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the moment when his head coach came to him to inform him the 49ers’ third-string QB was the best signal caller on the roster during last year’s training camp.
York was asked about his relationship with Kyle Shanahan and used the story from last year when his head coach revealed Brock Purdy was the best QB on the roster as a great example of his blunt honesty, now matter how controversial it may be at the time.
“We haven’t really talked much about Brock but that’s a good example of Kyle’s directness,” the San Francisco 49ers owner began.
“Last year in preseason, I think Week 1 of training camp. You have a quarterback we are paying $20 million to, you have a quarterback that you invested in by trading three first round picks to, and he grabs me after practice.
“He’s like, ‘hey man we gotta talk,’ and that’s generally not a good thing when your coach says you have to talk.”
“So I’m like, ‘alright, what’s up’? And he says, ‘I think our third-string quarterback is our best quarterback.’ “
“I’m like, okay, what does that mean?”
“He’s like, ‘obviously we have invested in Trey, Trey is doing a good job, we aren’t going to do anything to change that. And we aren’t going to do anything to change the depth chart, but I think Brock will end up being our quarterback at some point.”
York went on to say how Kyle Shanahan didn’t force it and two injuries led to the San Francisco 49ers turning to Brock Purdy as their starting QB, while mentioning his head coach is always honest in the moment, no matter how controversial or against the grain what he’s saying may be.
Now, York can only hope the combination of Shanahan and Purdy — surrounded by a roster full of dynamic weapons on both sides of the ball — will be enough to defeat Mahomes and the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.