49ers’ Brock Purdy accomplishes playoff feat last achieved by Joe Montana
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) celebrates with the George Halas Trophy after winning the NFC Championship game against the Detroit Lions at Levi’s Stadium.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy still has his share of doubters even after leading his team through the NFC side of the playoff bracket and to the Super Bowl.
But there’s something Purdy accomplished in San Francisco’s 34-31 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday that no one can take away from him. In fact, the accomplishment is so rare, the last QB to do it was 49er legend Joe Montana 39 years ago.
In beating the Lions, Purdy became the first passer since Montana in 1984 to sweep every playoff team in his conference in a single season. Only three others QBs have ever accomplished the feat — Dallas’ Roger Staubach (1971), Minnesota’s Fran Tarkenton (1973) and Pittsburgh’s Terry Bradshaw (1975).
Montana did so in 1984, knocking off the No. 5 seed New York Giants 21-10 and No. 3 seed Chicago Bears 23-0 in the divisional round and NFC Championship game, respectively, while also beating No. 2 seed Washington 37-31 in Week 2 and the No. 4 seed Los Angeles Rams 33-0 in Week 9.
All three QBs only had to beat three other opponents and Montana four while Purdy has run through six different teams and staged a seven-point comeback against the Packers and a 17-point comeback against the Lions in back-to-back weeks.
Against those six opponents, the 24-year-old Purdy was remarkably efficient. He completed 68.4% of his passes (117-of-171) and averaged 270.6 yards passing per game with 13 touchdowns and just one interception.
2023 NFC playoff field:
- 49ers beat the No. 2 seed Dallas Cowboys 42-10 in Week 5
- 49ers beat the No. 3 seed Detroit Lions 34-31 in NFC Championship game
- 49ers beat the No. 4 seed Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-14 in Week 11
- 49ers beat the No. 5 seed Philadelphia Eagles 42-19 in Week 13
- 49ers beat the No. 6 seed Los Angeles Rams 30-23 in Week 2
- 49ers beat the No. 7 seed Green Bay Packers 24-21 in divisional round
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