Judgements XVIII

 By Clark Judge 

Brock Purdy
Credit: Fox Sports

The last player chosen in the NFL draft has been called Mr. Irrelevant. But not now. Maybe not anymore.

The reason: There is nothing irrelevant about San Francisco’s Brock Purdy.

You probably heard of him. He was the 262nd choice in this year’s draft and the last of nine quarterbacks. He was also a guy given such little chance of making an impact in the pros that one website (sportsnaut.com) dismissed him altogether, saying “he lacks the talent to be considered anything more than a career backup.”

Somebody give me rewrite.

Purdy not only is more than a career backup; he’s the starting quarterback for the hottest team in the NFL. That would be the 49ers, who won their last 10 games -- including five with Purdy as their starter. Remarkable? You bet. That’s not supposed to happen and usually doesn’t.

But it has, and it raises questions as to what happens with the 49ers in 2023 … and more on that later. For the moment, San Francisco is the biggest threat to Philadelphia in the NFC playoffs, with FOX analyst and Hall-of-Famer Howie Long calling the 49ers “the most reliable team in the NFC right now.”

They’re healthy. They’re white hot. They’re loaded with offensive weapons. They have the league’s toughest defense. And they have Brock Purdy.

“He’s responding unlike a rookie should respond,” said Hall-of-Famer Terry Bradshaw.

Let us count the ways. He’s remarkably poised. He’s accurate, completing 67.1 percent of his passes. He’s productive, with multiple touchdown passes in all his starts – including three Sunday. He makes few mistakes, with only three interceptions as a starter. And he does nothing but win.

“It’s hard to do,” said NBC analyst Jason Garrett, a former quarterback and head coach. “This is a rookie quarterback, the last player taken. It’s hard to play quarterback in the NFL, (but) he’s been fantastic.”

The question, of course, is how he responds to his first playoff exposure, and that remains to be seen. Typically, jitters are an issue. But they haven’t been with this guy, and they shouldn’t be with the 49ers. They have talent galore and a quarterback who may, just may, keep first-round pick Trey Lance waiting in the on-deck circle again next year.

Mr. Irrelevant? Hardly.

SUNDAY SCHOOL: FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED

1.       Dan Campbell should be a Coach of the Year candidate. He did more than upset Green Bay at Lambeau and keep the Packers from reaching the playoffs. He restored credibility to the Lions and gave their fans something they’ve been missing for years: Hope. Once upon a time, Detroit needed bailouts. Not anymore. Detroit is back. The Lions won eight of their last 10 to finish 9-8, their first winning season since 2017, and barely miss the playoffs. “I’m just proud of our guys,” said quarterback Jared Goff. “We didn’t make the playoffs, but this is the next best thing.”

2.       Chicago isn’t the NFL’s Second City, either. Nope, the Bears didn’t win a game. They dropped their 10^th straight, and congratulations, guys. With the loss, Chicago finishes 3-14 to jump Houston – which beat Indianapolis, Lovie Smith’s parting gift to the city– for the first pick in the 2023 draft. It’s the first time Chicago has the first overall pick since 1947. Now the question: What does Chicago do? It has Justin Fields, and you tell me if you like him as a franchise quarterback. I don’t. But Chicago might, which means the auction for Bryce Young starts now.

3.       Cincinnati may be the team to beat in the AFC. The Bengals have everything: They’re hot, winning 12 of their last 14 starts, including their last eight. They have Joe Burrow. And they have Kansas City’s number. Go ahead and look it up: Patrick Mahomes is 0-3 vs. Burrow the past two seasons.

4.       Kevin Stefanski’s seat just got warmer. No coach has worked more than three seasons under owner Jimmy Haslam, and Stefanski just completed season No.3 … with a loss to Pittsburgh. That won’t go over well with Haslam, who changes coaches as often as the McCown brothers switched teams.

5.       Good things do happen to good people. Geno Smith is one of the game’s likeable guys, but until this season he wasn’t one of its best quarterbacks. OK, he was little more than a journeyman holding a clipboard. Then 2022 happened, and Smith played so well this season that he set a Seattle franchise record for single-season passing yards, led the Seahawks into the playoffs and is a slam dunk for Comeback Player of the Year.

THIRD AND 25

1.       If that was Aaron Rodgers’ last game at Lambeau Field, how ironic that it ended with an interception on his last pass. Tom Brady’s career at Gillette Stadium ended the same way, too. One difference: Brady’s interception was in the playoffs, and it was returned for a TD.

2.       Memo to the NFL’s competition committee. Whatever you do this offseason, do something, ANYTHING, to make roughing the passer more sensible. Watch the call on Cam Heyward’s fourth-quarter sack of Deshaun Watson, and you’ll know what I’m talking about. Absolutely insane.

3.       Dallas isn’t America’s Team. Not now. Buffalo is. For this week and for the playoffs.

4.       Let me repeat: There is no way Tua Tagovailoa should play again this season. I don’t care what he says. The guy’s had three concussions. Mike McDaniel gets paid to make decisions like this. So make it.

5.       You gotta hand it to Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin. He knows how to win. In late November, the Steelers were sitting at 3-7 and headed for their first losing season in Tomlin’s 16 years as head coach. Then they pulled a U-turn, winning six of their last seven, finishing 9-8 and coming within a Jason Sanders field goal of reaching the playoffs. In Pittsburgh, they still want to Be Like Mike. Now you know why.

6.       The more I see Dak Prescott, the more I’m convinced Dallas should rely on its running game. Dak has an interception in seven consecutive games, including two pick sixes, and is coming off a dreadful performance in Washington. Dallas should be worried except … except its playoff opener is vs. Tampa Bay. Yeah, I know the Bucs beat Dallas in the season opener (19-3), but they’re in a different place now.

7.       Top seeds are coveted because you get a week off and don’t leave home. But does anyone know the last top seed to win a Super Bowl? Try Philadelphia in 2017.

8.       Here’s to the Buffalo Bills for recognizing its medical and athletic training staff prior to Sunday’s game. If you’re talking NFL heroes, these are the people.

9.       Believe it or don’t. The Jets did not have a touchdown their last three games.

10.   Best tweet of the day goes to the New York Post’s Brian Costello during Sunday’s Miami-Jets sleepfest: “You should be taking down your Christmas decorations instead of watching this game.” We did neither.

11.   The Bears should send a Marshall Field’s gift card to Indianapolis safety Rodney Thomas. Somehow, some way, he whiffed on a certain deflection/interception on the Texans’ last-minute Hail Mary. If he bats down the ball, the Texans have the first pick of the 2023 draft. Instead, it belongs to Chicago. Check your mail, Rodney. A New Year’s present is on its way.

12.   Just a hunch, but Nyheim Hines is this week’s AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

13.   And since we’re on the subject … Cameron Achord, Patriots; special teams coordinator, report to the principal’s office. Three kickoff returns for TDs in one season? Bad. Two in one game? Worse.

14.   If I have a concern about Buffalo in the playoffs, it’s Josh Allen in the Red Zone. Sunday’s interception was his fifth this season.

15.   That settles the Sam Darnold debate. If Carolina doesn’t draft a quarterback it better find a high-profile free agent. Jimmy G? Derek Carr (if available)? Anything is an improvement.

16.   My guess? Sean McVay takes next season off. Reason: Peace of mind. He looked miserable on the sidelines this year. Then again, that can happen when you follow a Super Bowl victory with a 5-12 encore.

17.   How appropriate: The only NFL stadium where J.J. Watt hadn’t played in his 12-years in the NFL was Levi’s Stadium … where he ended his career Sunday.

18.   Baltimore is toast. I don’t know what’s next for Lamar Jackson, and you get the feeling the Ravens don’t, either. Let’s say he returns. How good can he be after missing the past five games and not practicing? Then there’s this: Other than tight end Mark Andrews, who catches passes? At one point Sunday, wide receivers had been targeted nine times … with no completions.  Put them together with a first-round playoff game in. Cincinnati, and you can say goodnight.

19.   Carolina owner David Tepper may want to make a splash with Jim Harbaugh, but I’d think long and hard about keeping interim coach Steve Wilks. Players play hard for him and, better yet, won. He was 6-6 after predecessor Matt Rhule went 1-4.

20.   Tennessee rookie Ryan Stonehouse just set an NFL record with a 53.1-yard punting average, and that’s great. What’s better, though, is the record he broke. It was 51.4, set by Sammy Baugh … yes, that Sammy Baugh … in 1940. Uh-huh, the record lasted 82 years.

21.   The more we see of Denver, the worse it looks for former coach Nathaniel Hackett. In two games under Jerry Rosburg, the Broncos scored 24 and 31 points. In 11 of 15 under Hackett, they failed to score more than 16.

22.   Sam Howell? I liked what I saw, and I’d like to see more. I bet the Commanders would, too.

23.   Don’t sleep on Jacksonville. The Jags crushed the Chargers earlier this season … they’re home … they’re hot … and they just saw what happened when Denver and Russell Wilson threw deep on them.

24.   No one needed that No. 1 playoff seed more than Philadelphia. It gives quarterback Jalen Hurts, who played Sunday, two weeks to heal his injured shoulder.

25.   Shame on the Packers’ Quay Walker. He was ejected for the second time this year, and he should have been. Shoving a member of the Lions training staff? Disgraceful, and now more than ever.

SUNDAY’S GOLD JACKET STATS

n  The Saints’ Chris Olave and the Jets’ Garrett Wilson are the first pair of rookies from the same school with 1,000 yards receiving in the same season.

n  The Dolphins have gone to the playoffs three times in the past 21 years, and each time it was with a first-year head coach (Tony Sparano in 2008, Adam Gase in 2016 and McDaniel this season).

n  Nick Folk hasn’t missed his last 60 field-goal tries inside the 40.

n  The Lions’ Kirby Joseph is the first player to intercept Aaron Rodgers three times in one season.

n  This is the first time since 1999 that all three Florida teams – the Bucs, Jags and Dolphins – reached the playoffs in the same season.

SUNDAY’S GOLD JACKET QUOTES

n  “I can’t remember a play that touched me like that, I don’t think in my life. It’s probably No. 1. It was just spiritual.” – Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen on Hines’ first TD return.

n  “It feels tremendous, but the goal wasn’t to get to the playoffs.” Miami coach Mike McDaniel on reaching the playoffs.

n  “It was ugly, but we won.” – Seattle quarterback Geno Smith.

n  “I’m not thinking about that right now. We’ll deal with that stuff at a later time.” – L.A. Rams’ coach Sean McVay on rumors that he’ll leave the Rams.

n  “We’re the only ones who can stop us at this point.” – Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts.

n  We’re the Detroit Lions! Stop playing with us.” – Detroit running back Jamaal Williams.