The San Francisco 49ers took care of business in Week 1, thoroughly dispatching the Pittsburgh Steelers with a 30-7 road victory. It was another impressive showing for Brock Purdy, who still hasn't lost a game when healthy.
Mr. Irrelevant, the No. 262 pick in last year's NFL Draft, Purdy entered the league with basement-level expectations. In a one-year span, he has led the Niners to the NFC championship game and essentially booted former No. 3 pick Trey Lance to the Cowboys. It's hard to fathom a more impressive resume for a player in Purdy's position.
He added to the lore on Sunday, accruing 220 yards through the air with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He found Brandon Aiyuk for a beautiful touchdown pass in the second quarter. What's most notable, however, is who was defending Aiyuk: Steelers vet Patrick Peterson.
Before Sunday's game, Peterson promised to intercept Purdy. He even went as far as to claim the Niners' offense has "tell signs" and that Purdy is essentially a system QB. Peterson has earned the right to trash talk after eight Pro Bowl appearances, but as accomplished physicist Neils Bohr says in the acclaimed blockbuster film Oppenheimer, you can't lift up the rock without being prepared for the snake underneath.
Folks, Peterson got bit.
After the game, Purdy took great pleasure in reminding the world of Peterson's words.
49ers' Brock Purdy gets last laugh against Patrick Peterson and Steelers
Peterson is only the latest in a long line of NFL players to immediately regret trash talk. He joins Ja'Marr Chase and the Bengals, who talked down the Browns all week, only to lose 24-3.
It's getting harder and harder to deny Purdy. It has been tempting to chalk up last season as a flash in the pan — he's a seventh-round pick, there's no real precedent for this — but he's a baller. Purdy operates with the poise and accuracy of a seasoned vet. There aren't many 23-year-olds who look as in control as Purdy does.
Defense is the Niners' calling card, but it's impossible to go the distance without a quality offense and a bankable quarterback. Purdy has done nothing to dissuade us of the notion that he is, in fact, a Super Bowl-caliber QB.
Whatever tell signs Peterson thought he discovered turned out to be complete misdirection. Purdy carved up the Steelers' defense with relative ease, averaging over 11 yards per completion and spreading the wealth between six different receivers. His favorite target on the day was Aiyuk, who torched Pittsburgh for 129 yards and caught both of Purdy's touchdowns.
Peterson and the Steelers will go back to the drawing board before a Week 2 meeting with the Atlanta Falcons. San Francisco, meanwhile, gears up for an in-state showdown with the Los Angeles Rams in seven days.
