With the first two preseason games out of the way and the next one just around the bend, the Pittsburgh Steelers will seen be turning the corner to the first week of the regular season. Ever since the schedule announcement revealed the San Francisco 49ers as their first opponent, there has been intense interest in the availability of second-year QB Brock Purdy, who was injured during the 49ers’ postseason run.
The former Iowa State passer took the field last night for the first time since tearing the UCL in his throwing arm and he seemed to pick up where he left off in limited action. Attempting just five passes, he completed four for 65 yards. He also recorded one rush for 8 yards.
Purdy played just one drive, which ended in a field goal after he was sacked for an 8-yard loss on second-and-goal from the two-yard line. That set them back to the 10, from which he scrambled for 8 yards as the offense settled for a field goal.
The 49ers went on to win 21-20 with most of the scoring coming late in the game, former first-round pick Trey Lance leading San Francisco to 10 points in the final minutes to claim the one-point victory. But that’s not Steelers fans will be paying attention to.
A seventh-round pick, Purdy began his rookie season as the 49ers’ third-string quarterback behind Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo. It was only after injuries to their top two quarterbacks he was thrust into the spotlight, but he went 5-0 as a starter at the end of the regular season.
In nine games played overall in the regular season, Purdy went 114-for-170, completing over 67 percent of his passes. He totaled 1,374 yards passing with 13 touchdowns to 4 interceptions and posted a passer rating of 107.3, finishing third in the Offensive Rookie of the Year voting, receiving six first-place votes to QB Kenny Pickett’s zero.
The season opener will be an interesting one with the first quarterback drafted in 2022 pitted against the last, the 20th-overall selection versus the 262nd, Mr. Irrelevant. Though Purdy was drafted onto a roster much more prepared to make a run, he did take the 49ers to the NFC Championship before his injury, while Pickett’s Steelers narrowly missed the playoffs in spite of a 7-2 run to end the year.
San Franciso is fully committed to moving ahead with Purdy as their starter, even though they only drafted Lance in the first round in 2021. He went 1-1 as the starter last year before his own injury, although he only attempted three passes in his win in the second game of the year.
With Garoppolo gone, he is competing with another former first-round disappointment for the primary backup job in the form of Sam Darnold. The two had similar stat lines in last night’s game, though Lance, who played after Darnold, had more explosive plays. But it doesn’t seem at this point the Steelers will be seeing either one of them come September.
