Brock Purdy’s latest Monday night outing didn’t just help the 49ers stay perfect - it pushed him into a place no quarterback has ever occupied on the NFL’s all-time passer rating board.
In San Francisco’s 23-17 win over the Commanders, Purdy went 21 of 29 for 264 yards and a touchdown, finishing with a 111.9 passer rating. That performance got him to the 1,500-pass-attempt mark required to qualify for the league’s career passer rating leaderboard, and he now sits alone at the top with a 105.6 rating.
That puts Purdy ahead of some of the biggest names in the sport. Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson is second at 102.7, Aaron Rodgers is third at 101.9, and Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes follow to complete the top five.
Among those five, only Rodgers and Mahomes have a Super Bowl ring. Rodgers won his with the Green Bay Packers, while Mahomes has three championships with the Chiefs.
Purdy and the 49ers are chasing that kind of company this season, and their 6-0 start has come with wins over the Seahawks, Rams, and Broncos. With 11 games left, San Francisco is still one of just three unbeaten teams in the NFL, alongside Kansas City and Minnesota.
Still, Purdy didn’t pretend the night was clean from start to finish. He pointed to the second half, when Washington hung around and his offense stalled with a stretch of three-and-outs.
"Obviously, offensively and for myself, like, in the second half it’s tough just to do what we did, three-and-outs, and I think there's some plays where I coulda been better for sure. ... For our defense to do what they did, obviously I know it sounds cheesy, but it's true ... for our defense to do what they did at the end, that was really impressive,"
The 49ers defense sealed it late. Safety Malik Mustapha broke up a fourth-down throw from Jayden Daniels to Treylon Burks near the goal line, and then several San Francisco defenders teamed up for a game-ending sack on Washington’s final drive.
Purdy has been building this résumé for a while. He led the NFL in passer rating in 2023, and as of Monday night he has 13,145 passing yards and 98 touchdowns in five seasons as San Francisco’s quarterback.
The 49ers return to action on Sunday, Oct. 25, at 1 p.m. ET on the road against the Falcons.
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