Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
I remember this play towards the end of the first half, this is an example where he needs to be more willing to move up in the pocket rather than head to the outside. Its one thing that he is going to need to work on over time. Stepping up in this case and taking an extra second to scan the field could have resulted in a touchdown instead of a throw away.
On this play, Kittle ran a divide route right down the middle of the defense, but he was likely an "alert," meaning Purdy would only look at him if he liked the pre-snap look or peeked at him after the snap.
Purdy's first read is McCaffrey on the choice route, followed by Jennings running a stick China route.
After the snap, free safety Quandre Diggs left the middle and jumped outside. He might have thought Kittle was going to run a corner route and guessed wrong. Kittle was wide open down the middle of the field, but Purdy didn't see him.
Based on the pre-snap look, it might have been difficult to predict Kittle breaking wide open. Purdy looked to McCaffrey, but the "lurk" defender helped on McCaffrey.
Purdy seemed to look to his next read, Jennings, but didn't pull the trigger. Purdy had a clean pocket and plenty of room to step up but instead ran backward, bailed to his left and eventually threw the ball away.
https://theathletic.com/4091165/2023/01/17/brock-purdy-49ers-playoffs-film/
And this was a game where he only had 3 QB pressures so this wasn't a case where he's starting to see ghosts or anything. This is just a Brock habit. To his credit, both his 4th and 5th read TD's later to both backups were due to him stepping up and through lanes to find CMC/Mitchell in the RZ.
But this little habit and the Jimmy-like throws to the LB's in the middle of the field are the only two areas for improvement I can think of ATM.
