Brock Purdy, 49ers getting flustered early by blitzing Giants on Thursday night
By Peter Panacy
Brock Purdy has been good against the blitz over his young career, but he and the 49ers haven't found much rhythm against the blitzing Giants on Thursday Night Football.
Over the course of his abbreviated rookie season, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy conducted himself well when other teams blitzed.
Per Pro Football Focus that year, the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft managed a 97.8 passer rating against the blitz, while his non-blitz passer rating was 113.1.
Early on Thursday Night Football against the visiting New York Giants, Purdy found himself under frequent pressure by the G-Men defense, who were bringing an extra rusher at the request of New York's defensive coordinator, Don Martindale.
This was evident when the Niners' opening drive went 15 plays and 64 yards, lasting 6:16, but Purdy went 3-of-8 and couldn't find paydirt within the red zone.
The @Giants defense has blitzed Brock Purdy on 79.2% of his dropbacks (19 times on 24 dropbacks), the highest blitz rate by a defense in the NGS era (since 2016).
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 22, 2023
Purdy had an average time to throw of 2.36 seconds in the first half, quickest of his career.#NYGvsSF | #NYGiants
San Francisco settled for a field goal.
Purdy and the 49ers also struggled against the Giants defense on their second drive, too, ending that one in a punt. When thinking about how the G-Men allowed a whopping 68 points combined over their first two games, which equated to the NFL's worst defense, the early struggles are a bit worrisome.
Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel helping bail Brock Purdy, 49ers out over 1st half vs. Giants
The Niners were short one of their top weapons on Thursday night, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who is dealing with a shoulder injury.
Yet it was fellow wideout Deebo Samuel and running back Christian McCaffrey who largely helped take pressure off Purdy. Samuel pulled off a great run-after-the-catch scamper for 30 yards on a 3rd-and-15 play, while McCaffrey converted on a long third-down run, too.
Those plays helped culminate in a San Francisco touchdown when Purdy found rookie wideout Ronnie Bell for a go-ahead touchdown to make things 10-3 in the second half.
Purdy was 10-of-18 for 121 yards and the score after that drive.
No complaints there, but one might hope that Purdy and the 49ers offense is able to break down the floodgates and overwhelm what's still a very weak Giants defense
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