Brock Purdy made his first official start for the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, and to say the former Iowa State quarterback made an instant impact is an understatement.

The statement he made was simple. Stop calling him "Mr. Irrelevant", the first quarterback to start a game after being taken last in the NFL draft, and start calling him the real deal. Purdy and the Niners took it to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (led by some guy named Tom Brady) in a final score of 35-7.

With the two main San Francisco quarterbacks out with injuries, Purdy scored two touchdown passes and ran for another in the drudging of the team piloted by the 7-time Super Bowl champion. Purdy finished 16 for 21 for 185 yards and two touchdowns, according to Local 5. But he didn't do it alone, throwing key touchdowns to both Christian McCaffery and Brandon Aiyuk.

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Brady did OK, going  34 for 55 for 253 yards with one TD and two interceptions. Despite the star turn for Purdy, he would see one of his key targets carted off the field when Deebo Samuel suffered an ankle injury. The game was well at hand for San Fran at the point, being ahead 21-0.

 

Tampa Bay, at 6-7 is clinging to a one-game lead over Atlanta in the NFC South and still has playoff hopes. Clearly, so do the 9-4 49ers who, with a win over Seattle this Thursday night can clinch the NFC West. One might assume the rest of this season is simply an audition tape for Purdy to land his next job after Trey Lance and Jimmy Garapplo return, but the 49ers might just be looking at ways to keep him in the Bay area as a not-so-secret anymore weapon.

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