Coming into the San Francisco 49ers' Week 16 matchup with the Indianapolis Colts, Brock Purdy had gone through his fair share of struggles on Monday Night Football.
It wasn't all bad for the Iowa state alum in his five previous appearances, as he'd completed 68 percent of his passes and averaged 265.6 passing yards per game.
On the other end of the spectrum, however, he'd won just two of those five games and thrown only five touchdowns against 11 interceptions, the last three of those picks coming in one half just a month ago when the Niners hosted the Carolina Panthers. Thankfully, they didn't end up mattering, as San Francisco still took a 20-9 victory.
Purdy added a 12th pick to his Monday resume against the Colts, but from an overall standpoint, he flipped the script something fierce, completing 25 of his 34 passes for 295 yards with a career-high five touchdowns in leading the 49ers to an emphatic 48-27 victory.
Brock Purdy became the first 49ers QB ever to throw for five touchdowns on Monday Night Football
The matchup with the Colts marked the 49ers' 88th appearance on Monday Night Football, with the win being their 55th, tying the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most all-time.
But in those previous 87 appearances, not a single San Francisco quarterback had ever tossed five touchdowns, which is obviously quite surprising, given the franchise's storied history at the position. So, Purdy naturally has to be feeling great about being the first.
Furthermore, Purdy is also the first 49ers quarterback to throw five touchdowns in any game since Hall of Famer Steve Young tossed six in San Francisco's 49-26 win over the then-San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl 29. So, again, he's got to feel great about being the first in more than three decades to hit the five-TD mark.
That win over the Chargers, of course, was the last time the Niners hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. But Purdy, who is arguably the hottest quarterback in the entire NFL right now, would certainly like to change that. The path to the Super Bowl, of course, is a lot easier when you own the No. 1 seed in your conference, which brings a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the Divisional Round and the conference title game.
And with wins over the Chicago Bears and Seattle Seahawks to close out the regular season, the 49ers would be just that in the NFC.