The 49ers have spent the first stretch of the season looking like a team that’s hard to needle. They’re unbeaten.
They’ve stacked convincing wins over the Rams, Dolphins and Cardinals. Brock Purdy is putting together an early MVP case with nine touchdown passes and only one interception.
San Francisco is also sitting near the top of the league in red zone scoring, third-down conversions and yards per play, all while dealing with a crowded injured reserve list.
So naturally, the first real bulletin board material of the year came from Denver radio.
On a Wednesday edition of 104.3 The Fan’s “Dover and Cecil,” hosts Josh Dover and Cecil Lammey took a swing at the quarterback and coaching matchup ahead of Sunday’s Broncos-49ers game, and Lammey made the case that Bo Nix belongs ahead of Purdy.
“Who elevates?” said Lammey, a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.
“Now, the Shanahan system elevates your quarterback one notch above what he is. So automatically you put Bo Nix ahead of Brock Purdy.
But does Brock Purdy elevate his team or is that more on the duty of Christian McCaffrey? Like, who is the elevator?
And I look at Bo Nix with all those fourth-quarter comebacks - that’s an elevator. That’s a guy that’s clutch.
And that’s an ability that Brock Purdy has not yet shown. It doesn’t mean Brock Purdy is bad - don’t @ me bro for the love of God - but who’s the better quarterback?
It’s Bo Nix. It’s Bo Nix because he’s an elevator.
I think the system elevates Brock Purdy.”
The one thing Lammey had right is that Nix does have more fourth-quarter comebacks than Purdy. Nix has 10 in his career with Denver, a team that has spent plenty of time trailing over the last three seasons.
Purdy has four game-winning drives. But the comparison gets a lot less flattering for Nix from there.
In those comeback games, Nix posted a 78.6 average quarterback rating, while Purdy’s was 106.4. Nix reached a 69% completion rate only once in those 10 games.
Purdy did it in three of his four.
By the usual quarterback standards, Purdy has the stronger resume across the board. Completion percentage, touchdowns, interceptions, yards per pass, quarterback rating - the list tilts his way, and the source material makes it clear it’s tough to find a category where Nix has the edge. Purdy has also won 10 of his last 12 starts, with the only two losses coming against the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
Dover and Lammey didn’t stop at quarterback. They also gave Sean Payton the coaching edge over Kyle Shanahan.
“It’s going to be Sean Payton because he’s got the hardware,” Lammey said. “...
To me, it comes back to, ‘Who got it done? Who got it done at the highest level and who’s got a Super Bowl ring?’
And that’s Sean Payton. ... Because of that, even though Davis Webb is not yet very experienced as a play caller, I’m giving the advantage to the Denver Broncos because Sean Payton’s got a ring.”
Dover backed him up.
“That’s the easiest answer and it’s the right answer. It’s what do you play for?
Championships. Sean has been to, won, been on the cusp of a couple of others,” Dover said.
“Kyle’s been to one, been on the cusp of one other. … Sean’s got the ol’ skins on the wall, to steal the John Fox term.”
Kickoff for Sunday’s game is set for 1:25 p.m.
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