Tampa Bay Buccaneers at San Francisco 49ers
Brock Purdy was the 262nd and final pick of this year’s draft, making the former Iowa State quarterback “Mr. Irrelevant.” There’s no questioning Purdy’s relevance now as he prepares to start for San Francisco this week and potentially hold the job into the postseason.
Iinjuries to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo have forced the former third-string passer into the spotlight, where he fared well in relief last weekend. Purdy completed 25 of 37 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns with one interception in a 33-17 victory over the Dolphins. He’s surrounded by playmakers and has the right coach, Kyle Shanahan, to make the tough transition. Purdy has been running the scout team against one of the league’s elite defenses, so there are a few things working in his favor.
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San Francisco ranks No. 1 in scoring defense (15.8 PPG) and Tampa Bay ranks fifth (18.3), so this matchup figures to be a low-scoring grinder similar to most of the Buccaneers’ games. Tampa Bay, which has not scored more than 22 points in any of its past eight games, needed a furious fourth-quarter rally and mistakes by the Saints to pull off a 17-16 win on Monday. The Buccaneers’ problems start on the offensive line, and Tom Brady is not making many big plays through the air despite having an array of big-play receivers. It’s tough to shake the feeling that the offense should be much better than it is, but the lean numbers are reality. There’s no reason to expect Brady to put up more than 20 points against the 49ers.
It seems Brady has grown tired of his time with Tampa Bay and is ready to check out. His lack of engagement for long stretches of games has been clear to see. This game will be different. He grew up a fan of the 49ers, and the theory that he might want to play for San Francisco next year makes sense. One of these teams is a legit Super Bowl threat and it’s not the Bucs. It’s tempting to take 3.5 points or more with Brady as an underdog to Purdy, if you can get past the fact that Tampa Bay is lucky to be 6-6 and plays in the NFL’s worst division.
