Brock Purdy and 49ers beat Seahawks in NFC wild-card round for 11th straight win
Brock Purdy threw three touchdown passes and ran for a fourth score in his playoff debut, leading the San Francisco 49ers to a 41-23 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in a wild-card game Saturday.
Purdy picked up where he left off in the regular season for the 49ers (14-4) and showed few signs of playoff jitters by winning his sixth consecutive start since he replaced an injured Jimmy Garoppolo early in a Week 13 win over Miami. The 49ers have won 11 consecutive games.
The 49ers advanced to the divisional round, where they will host either Minnesota, Tampa Bay or Dallas next weekend.
Purdy connected on a three-yard pass to Christian McCaffrey in the first quarter, converted a one-yard sneak in the third quarter and threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Mitchell early in the fourth to make it 31-17.
The Jacksonville Jaguars pull off the third biggest comeback in NFL playoff history, rallying from a 27-0 deficit to defeat the Chargers 31-30.
The 49ers broke it open when Deebo Samuel took a short pass from Purdy and raced in for a 74-yard score.
“He has showed us over and over again who he is and the type of player he is,” San Francisco linebacker Fred Warner said of Purdy. “So I’m not surprised.”
Purdy threw for 332 yards — the second most for a rookie in the playoffs to Russell Wilson’s 385 in a loss to Atlanta 10 years ago — and he became the first rookie quarterback to account for four touchdowns in a playoff game.
“Once the game started, it was just 11 on 11. I have to do my job, get it to the guys in space and go from there,” Purdy said. “We didn’t make it more than what it was. It wasn’t, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s the playoffs and we got to get all tense.’ We just have to play our game.”
The Seahawks (9-9) kept it close for most of three quarters before a strip sack by Charles Omenihu late in the third quarter spoiled a red-zone drive.
Purdy then hit Jauan Jennings on a 33-yard pass to set up the touchdown pass to Mitchell that broke open the game. Purdy tied an NFL record for rookies set by Justin Herbert with his seventh consecutive game with multiple touchdown passes.
Purdy has lived up to the confidence his coaches and teammates have shown in him ever since he took over.
“I felt that way from the beginning once he got in that game against Miami,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “We didn’t have the luxury to sit there and worry about stuff the way the game was going. We just had to win the game, and he’s done a hell of a job. He’s done it every time since. I have a lot of confidence in him.”
San Francisco piled on from there.
The loss brought a disappointing end to a surprising season for the Seahawks, who got into the playoffs on the final weekend in their first season after trading Wilson.
With Mike Williams (back injury) now ruled out for the Chargers’ playoff opener at Jacksonville, the franchise is under scrutiny for handling of the roster.
Geno Smith stepped in admirably, throwing 30 touchdown passes in the regular season and keeping it close for a while in the playoff game thanks to a 50-yard touchdown pass to DK Metcalf in the first half.
Smith finished 25 for 35 for 253 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.
“I’m not at all satisfied,” Smith said. “I don’t feel good about what happened today. I feel like we we could have kept going. So for me, man, I just got to be better and I take this one personally.”
The 49ers raced to a 10-0 lead after two possessions, getting a field goal on the opening drive and then a three-yard pass from Purdy to McCaffrey after McCaffrey’s 68-yard run on the second possession.
But Seattle battled back with a 14-play drive capped by Kenneth Walker’s seven-yard run and the deep pass to Metcalf.
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