SANTA CLARA — Thursday night’s blitz of the New York Giants started off as a “detailed” show with 49ers quarterback Brock Birdie intercepting the blitz packages.
Purdy completed 25 of 37 passing attempts for 310 yards and two touchdowns with a 111.3 passer rating in the 49ers’ 30-12 win over the Giants.
“I thought he got a lot better as the game went on,” 49ers Christian McCaffrey said. “I’m not a quarterback’s coach, so I don’t always comment on a quarterback’s play, but I knew when he started to see things rolling.
“We’re lucky he’s our quarterback, that’s for sure.”
In the 49ers’ home opener at Levi’s Stadium, Purdy appeared to be off his game.
But as the game wore on, he figured things out and beat the Giants’ blitzes with decisive throws to Tebow Samuel, George Kittle and others.
“At first it felt like it was a little sloppy,” Purdy said. “Then once we got into a rhythm, we saw what they were doing and at what point in the game they were going to start doing things.”
Purdy faced a steady diet of blitzes nearly three times the league average. According to Pro Football Focus, the Giants blitzed Purdy on 37 of his 43 dropbacks, including plays nullified by penalties.
On plays where the Giants’ defense exploded, Purdy was 19 of 31 for 252 yards with two touchdowns and a passer rating of 108.5.
“That’s their plan. That’s the way they’ve done things,” Purdy said. “They’re very good at it, so going into the game, we had an idea of the picture and what we were going to get. They stuck with it, and yes, it was a four-quarter game.
Purdy and Samuel delivered the punch in the fourth quarter. Then, the defense was good enough to break another blitz that New York defensive coordinator Don Martindale called for a 27-yard back-shoulder touchdown.
The 49ers seem to have playmakers on offense to take advantage of teams rolling the dice that send pressure and weaken their coverage.
Purdy is adept at making pre-snap reads and getting rid of the ball quickly. Samuel, Kittle, Brandon Ayuk and Christian McCaffrey take short passes and turn them into big gains.
“I feel like we were able to get a couple plays on their blitz and capitalize on that,” Purdy said. “We have to watch the film and learn from it. When another defense starts to apply pressure and does things like that, I feel like big plays have to be made.
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