The San Francisco 49ers got a nice win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Quarterback Brock Purdy didn't have his best game by any stretch, but he played good enough to win.
Still, some tried to pump the brakes on some of the MVP chatter surrounding Purdy, like Mina Kimes of ESPN.
David Lombardi of the San Francisco Standard may be a bigger fan of Purdy than Purdy's own family. After Sunday's game in which Purdy threw for 218 yards and completed 19 of his 30 pass attempts with two touchdowns, Lombardi wrote the following on social media:
"In an MVP-frontrunner season, this has been Brock Purdy's best work yet. He's made it work down 3 of his top WR — and with Mike Evans not 100% — against a defense that would've likely been in the Super Bowl last season had Bo Nix not gotten hurt. As soon as Shanahan put this in his QB's hands, Purdy took over."
Now, that may be overstating the case a little bit, and Kimes tried to bring Lombardi down to earth a bit by reminding him that Denver lost its two starting cornerbacks in the game. Lombardi shot back by reiterating the fact that the Niners are down multiple receivers:
The Broncos are missing both of their corners https://t.co/4NU7YroOPI
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) October 4, 2026
They both have a point, and while Lombardi is a massive 49ers homer and Kimes is a Seattle Seahawks fan, maybe they can both be right on this one. Purdy was far from perfect, but he played well and did enough for his team to win the game, which is what quarterbacks in the MVP conversation should do.
At the same time, the Niners weren't able to get anything rolling on offense until late in the contest when, as Kimes noted, Denver was without two key defenders. Maybe the Niners would have made some more headway regardless of who was on the field if head coach Kyle Shanahan adjusted, but he didn't have his best game for much of the contest.
Brock Purdy and the 49ers won which is all that matters
Everything was in perfect concert on the play that sealed the victory, though. Shanahan dialed up a beautiful screen to tight end George Kittle, and Purdy did not panic even though Denver blitzed him. He got it to Kittle, and his tight end did the rest, taking it to the house for a touchdown.
An MVP season for a quarterback isn't going to be made up of 17 games where you throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns every single time. Sometimes a guy can show he's an MVP by not beating himself or jeopardizing the team.
Purdy didn't do too much against the Broncos on Sunday and did not force the issue, something he has done in the past. Whether it's impressive because he did it without some of his receivers, or not that impressive because the Broncos were hurt, doesn't matter because it resulted in a victory.
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