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On Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, 49ers QB Brock Purdy put on a masterclass. His 4-touchdown, 0-interception game was the driving force behind San Francisco's dominant 45-29 win. At 9.7 yards per attempt (242 total), it was another ho-hum elite performance from the young sophomore.
Despite the impressive stats, though, Purdy failed to keep one important streak alive - the 70% completion mark. At 16-of-25 passing, Purdy fell short of that lofty mark by a few percent, totaling a 64.0% completion percentage. Why does that matter? Simple - Brock Purdy was nearing the NFL's longest streak of games with a 70.0% completion percentage or higher.
Only three other quarterbacks have ever reached the 7 game mark in this regard: Joe Montana (8 times, 1989), Sam Bradford (7 times, 2016), and Drew Brees (7 times, 2016). With a 70.1% rate vs. the Seahawks in Week 14, Purdy became the fourth.
Unfortunately, Purdy would have needed toss six more consecutive completions to reach that mark against the Cardinals. With the game firmly in hand for San Francisco, Purdy was lifted halfway through the fourth quarter. As a football move, it was laudable - there was little reason to risk injury to a player having an MVP caliber season, and having Purdy continue to dice up Arizona's defense could be considered unsportsmanlike.
Additionally, while historic, there was less momentum for an efficiency streak like this than for other types of NFL records. Earlier in the season, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan continued to run RB Christian McCaffrey in late-game situations during his quest for the NFL's all-time touchdown streak. But in a late-season match that the Niners had already salted away to secure the NFC West title, bigger picture concerns guided the way. From Shanahan himself:
"Our No. 1 goal is to get in the playoffs and we got that last week. Winning this division, getting it last year, getting it this year, it's huge... But now our biggest thing is making sure we have two home games and trying to get a Bye. That's what we're focused on now."
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