My guess is that once a new stadium is approved and built, the team reinvents themselves under a new name and getting a prime time game opening weekend (or second weekend for a home opener) as well.
The Commanders/ Washington Football team name era will be as irrelevant as the Tennessee Oilers name
Niners QB Brock Purdy, who partially tore the UCL in his throwing elbow during the NFC Championship Game in January, has been cleared to participate in training camp practices.
As Purdy didn’t suffer a complete tear, he was able to under go a repair surgery in March, rather than a Tommy John replacement (which would have a much longer recovery period); for now, the Niners have him on a “pitch clock” during training camp, only allowing him to throw on two out of every three days.
I’m going to be pretty dubious that Purdy is anywhere close to 100%. 6 months isn’t nearly enough time to heal up following elbow surgery, even if it’s not a full TJ.
I really dont get the Purdy hype. Dont get wrong, I love him for being an efficient, win-with QB with low draft capital, low salary cap hit, and a spunky, can-do attitude. Everything I love in a NFL QB. And I do think he’d make a fine NFL QB for a team like the Niners, with YAC monsters like Kittle, McCaffrey, Samuel, and Aiyuk. But I have yet to see anything that leads me to believe he’ll become a game changing QB.
In addition to Purdy becoming the starter, the Niners also added Christian McCaffrey a couple of weeks earlier, so if there was an improvement late in the season, it may not have been solely due to Purdy at QB.
Five weeks earlier, to be exact. IIRC, McCaffrey joined the Niners just a couple of days before they played the Chiefs, a game which KC won 44-23. Then they won the next 10 in a row to finish the regular season. The first four of the streak were with Garoppolo under center, then he got hurt in the fifth game and was replaced by Purdy. Their stats appear to be somewhat similar, although I can’t find a listing that shows just games that were started by each QB.
Don’t forget that SF led the league in fewest points allowed. It’s a lot easier to play with the lead and consistently decent field position.
Here’s their schedule from last year, on Pro Football Reference. Garappolo was injured early in the game against the Dolphins on December 4th; Purdy finished that game, and then started the remaining five regular season games (as well as the playoff games).
The Niners did score 33+ points in five out of the six games in which Purdy played extensively (including the Dolphins game), though it’s also worth noting that they won comfortably (by two touchdowns or more) in four out of those six games, suggesting that their excellent defense also played a role.
The 49ers defense played incredible that game. Despite three lost fumbles and a turnover on downs, they held the Eagles to 269 total yards (~3.9 y/play), 33% conversion rate on 3rd down, and 4.8 yards per attempt passing (Hurts’s season average was 8.0).