SANTA CLARA — There was a time when the 49ers under Kyle Shanahan were best described as steady and even-keeled, and it wasn’t that long ago.
The 49ers who beat Seattle 28-16 Sunday at Levi’s Stadium were more like a match thrown into a fireworks factory, with sparks and explosions going off everywhere as they won their fifth straight game to improve to 10-3 and arrive at the cusp of an inevitable NFC West title.
Consider that of their season-high 527-yard output of total offense, the 49ers racked up 322 on eight big plays — an average of 40.3 yards per snap. They finished the game at 9.9 yards per play overall, with the usual suspects doing the most damage.
Christian McCaffrey raced 72 yards the first time he touched the ball on a toss left, setting up the first touchdown, and finished with 145 yards rushing. Deebo Samuel had seven receptions for 149 yards, hauled in a 54-yard deep strike from Brock Purdy and added a 1-yard run for another score. Brandon Aiyuk had six receptions for 126 yards with a long gain of 45. Tight end George Kittle scored on a 44-yard touchdown pass from Purdy.
As for Purdy, he shook off an early interception and finished 19 of 27 for 368 yards and the two quick-strike touchdowns and continued to make a mockery of anyone claiming he’s riding the coattails of a system or his teammates.
The first-down-to-first-down, grind-it-out Jimmy Garoppolo 49ers have given way to something more along the lines of the Rams’ “Greatest Show on Turf” and the numbers say casting Purdy as Kurt Warner isn’t a reach.
Any time the 49ers break the huddle can be the next touchdown.
“I feel that’s our mindset with this team,” Purdy said. “We have playmakers across the board. You throw an outside zone (run) to Christian and he can take 70. Throw a checkdown to Deebo Samuel and he can take it 50. That’s how we look at it.”
Purdy, as he is wont to do, is being too modest. For all the talk of Purdy’s teammates making him better, it may be even more true that he makes them better.
The end result is an offense that takes a simple run or a checkdown and turns it into big yardage, as Purdy said, but also strikes downfield because of a quarterback who throws with uncanny accuracy and anticipatory skill even before receivers make their break.
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The 49ers trailed 10-7 in the second quarter when Purdy hit Samuel with a 54-yard touchdown pass. The 49ers would never trail again. The play wasn’t even supposed to go to Samuel, with Jauan Jennings the intended receiver.
“I saw Jamal Adams’ feet coming down and he was flat-footed,” Purdy said. “I was like, ‘All right, Deebo is moving, we can get it over the top here.’ I thought this could be a big one so I let it rip and let Deebo get under it.”
Samuel said the 49ers’ offense has become more dangerous because teams struggle to cover their short in-breaking routes out of fear of getting beat over the top.
“Brock, just being the quarterback that he is, when he sees something, he’s just going to let it go,” Samuel said. “As you can see I really wasn’t running like 100 miles per hour but when I looked back and saw Brock cock to throw it, I had to speed up.”
The 44-yard score to Kittle came with 14:08 left after Seattle had closed within 21-16. On the previous play, McCaffrey was stopped for a single yard, and it was then that the 49ers’ reputation for ground and pound paid off in Shanahan’s eyes.
Kittle even blew through a holding penalty by Julian Love to get open and make his getaway as Purdy led him perfectly.
“They were honoring the run,” Shanahan said. “The play before, they blow the run up, and you can see George and Charlie (Woerner) in 22 personnel (two backs, two tight ends), and they’re coming up aggressive. George was able to fight through the hold and get the touchdown. We’ve got a lot of explosive guys.”
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To carry out the “Greatest Show on Turf” comparison a little further, McCaffrey has rushed for an NFL-leading 1,177 yards in the role of runner/receiver similar to Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk. Aiyuk has 56 catches for 1,053 yards and Samuel 45 for 739 as comps for Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt.
Purdy, of course, has the Warner role, and left tackle Trent Williams thinks it’s way past time that he begins getting recognized on a national scale for doing something remarkable because he can’t shake the “Mr. Irrelevant” draft day label.
“I don’t get why people say he’s a system quarterback or he’s got to show you more,” Williams said. “No system quarterback makes tight-window throws before they’re there, drawing people open, trusting the receiver to get there. Layering balls over linebackers that are in good position and still getting it over their heads. He’s so accurate and he gives those guys a chance to run after the catch.”
In Warner’s 1999 season — his sudden rise that led to a Super Bowl win and an MVP — he had a 109.1 passer rating and averaged 9.2 yards per attempt. Purdy has passed for 3,553 yards, 25 touchdowns and seven interceptions with a passer rating of 114.6 and a 9.3 average yards per attempt.
Purdy said he is throwing deep more often now not because he couldn’t do it a year ago, but because he’s more comfortable in the system. And he has won over his teammates in part because they love the electricity he shows after a big play and the ability to flip the switch and turn it off when it’s time for the next play.
“I love watching Brock,” Williams said. “I love to watch him get in the zone after a big play, you just see his confidence oozing. Then he cuts that off and he’s right back in the huddle and it seems like none of that ever happened.”
It’s happening every week, though, and the addition of explosive plays to an already efficient offense enhances the 49ers’ chances of a championship.
Source: www.mercurynews.com