When Monday night kicked off, Purdy came out firing, answering an impressive opening salvo from Rivers in which the comeback kid was 5 of 7 for 73 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown to Alec Pierce. Purdy and Co. countered with a 69-yard touchdown drive that ended with a Demarcus Robinson 22-yard score.
Rivers, who came out of retirement as a high school football coach and was playing Monday in only his second game since 2020, was close to returning for the 49ers team he was facing back in the 2023 playoffs. That initial dalliance with unretirement would have come to fruition had the 49ers advanced to the Super Bowl as each of the team’s quarterbacks were injured, including Purdy. Alas, the Eagles defeated the 49ers, and Rivers’ return was delayed until 2025.
When he took the field against the 49ers, Rivers came out swinging and slinging.
After Indy’s first three drives, Rivers had thrown two touchdowns — both to Pierce. It was Rivers’ first game with multiple TDs since Dec. 20, 2020, against the Houston Texans.
Purdy knew he had to keep firing back.
“When I saw him doing that the first couple of drives, I was like, ‘That’s a Hall of Fame quarterback right there,'” Purdy said. “Like going through his reads and making you pay. So, it was how can we go and be our best on offense every drive and go at the beginning of the drive to go score.”
Purdy was at his best, piloting the 49ers to touchdowns on their first three drives and a field goal on the fourth. He didn’t simmer, either, throwing his fifth touchdown to Christian McCaffrey in the fourth quarter as San Francisco took a commanding 41-27 lead.
Purdy’s pick came on the 49ers’ second-to-last drive, but a Dee Winters pick-six on the ensuring drive stomped out any thoughts of a miraculous Rivers-led rally.
