Rookie quarterback Brock Purdy never doubted he would take the field for the 49ers with a chance at winning a division title, but how long Purdy would be able to play through his oblique injury lingered all night in the mind of San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan.
“We were going to see how long he’d last and we were ready to go with [backup] Josh [Johnson], but he just got comfortable and got better as the game went on. It’s pretty unbelievable,” Shanahan said.
Purdy on Thursday threw a pair of touchdown passes to George Kittle as the 49ers won their first National Football Conference West title since 2019, beating the Seattle Seahawks 21-13.
Photo: Joe Nicholson-USA Today
Despite using their third starting quarterback this season, the 49ers (10-4) continued to show they might be the class of the conference alongside Philadelphia. San Francisco won their seventh straight, using their stifling defense to frustrate Seattle into countless mistakes.
The Niners got a handful of big plays from their rookie quarterback, who did not make any throws during the limited practice time leading into the game.
“My mindset was I was coming into this place to play and start. That was that,” Purdy said.
Playing on the road for the first time in his career, Purdy connected on his first 11 pass attempts, including a 28-yard touchdown to Kittle in the first quarter when Purdy executed two fakes before hitting his tight end wide open.
The play was called “Hollywood” and was flawless in its execution.
“Whenever Kyle dials something up that you know you’re gonna get the ball, you try to speak it into existence. So you got to say ‘touchdown’ and visualize it, and it was actually perfect,” Kittle said.
Purdy and Kittle connected again early in the second half as Seattle’s defense blew a coverage and left Kittle open for a 54-yard touchdown and a 21-3 San Francisco lead.
Purdy finished 17 of 26 for 217 yards, joining Aaron Rodgers as the only quarterbacks since at least 1950 to have a passer rating of at least 115 in each of their first two starts.
“Honestly, my mindset was even though I haven’t thrown a ball, I played four days ago,” Purdy said. “So I know where guys are supposed to be. I know what it’s like to rip a ball on rhythm and in tight on time.”
Kittle had four catches for 93 yards and Christian McCaffrey rushed for 108 yards, including a one-yard touchdown run in the final minute of the first half following a Seattle turnover.
Seattle (7-7) lost for the fourth time in five games and their playoff hopes took another hit.
Geno Smith threw for 238 yards and Seattle’s first offensive touchdown this season against the 49ers, but was under constant pressure.
Seattle pulled within one score late in the fourth quarter after Robbie Gould missed a 43-yard field goal and the Seahawks went 67 yards in 1 minute, 25seconds.
Smith hit Noah Fant on a 10-yard touchdown with 3:35 remaining, but Purdy converted a third-and-one with a scramble before the two-minute warning and Jordan Mason sealed the victory with a 55-yard rush with 1:02 remaining.
“I don’t know if I have all the right words, but man, I just hate losing and gotta figure it out,” Smith said.
Smith was sacked three times and hit nine times. When he did have time to throw, open windows for his pass catchers were small. Seattle had one play longer than 20 yards and wide receiver Tyler Lockett suffered a broken bone in his hand late in the game.
The 49ers have allowed 17 points or fewer in every game of their winning streak.
“I think just from the first time we played them we knew we had an advantage and we were going to have to take full advantage of it,” 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa said. “We definitely did our job.”
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