Let’s face it, Brock Purdy doesn’t really look like an NFL player.
That’s good, because that’s also what the entire league thought of him during the 2022 draft. Well, almost the entire league; with the 262nd pick, the very last one of that auction, the San Francisco 49ers decided to take a risk with this frail young man straight out of Iowa State, who looks like the teenager who packs your grocery store on the weekend to pay for her studies.
But to quote Winston Churchill: Who’s laughing now?
In the 14th week of play, he sits at the top of the quarterback rankings for the percentage of successful passes, with 70.2%, which is just better than his two closest pursuers in this regard, Tua Tagovailoa and Dak Prescott (70.1%). But his efficiency rating (116.1) is the best in the league, and that includes a perfect game of 158.3 collected on November 19 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
For some reason, Purdy remains the subject of various sarcasm from basement commentators, who criticize him for not being as spectacular as some of his colleagues. But Purdy sends the ball where the defense is not, with an Olympian calm to boot, and this is reminiscent of someone else, a certain Joe Montana, who once undertook a victorious push in the middle of Super Bowl after highlighting the presence in the stands of actor John Candy to his teammates, who were waiting for play to resume in the huddle.
We’re not going to start comparing the two men, because the one we nicknamed Joe Cool still has four Super Bowl rings somewhere at home, but in the meantime, Brock Purdy and his 49ers beat their most serious rivals , the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles, by a combined score of 84-29 this season.
Not too bad for a 262nd pick.
The keenest minds will have noticed that the New York Jets are often mentioned in this column, and the reason is very simple: for pure entertainment and unintentional humor, nothing can beat the Jets, not even the late Banana Peel series, excellent by the way.
This time, the unexpected dose of humor comes to us from quarterback Zach Wilson, a favorite of this column. It appears that the good Zach would have expressed the wish not to return to the field, which he then denied, but if it is true, can we really blame him? After snake tamer and nuclear power plant inspector, the position of quarterback of the New York Jets is undoubtedly among the most hazardous on this planet.
So since they can hardly do otherwise, the Jets will send poor Wilson behind center on Sunday against the Houston Texans, after deciding that he is the least bad of all their options. Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers raves every Tuesday on ESPN, with all the confidence of a guy who knows business.
How can you not love this team?
Since the popularity of this column continues to grow, we decided to respond a little to our voluminous mail.
First, Mathieu, obviously a long-time fan, suggests that we “leave alone” the New England Patriots, whom he considers too often taken to task in this space. Which we are going to do by force of circumstances, since the Patriots will win around five games over the next five years.
Then, Pierre writes to us to thank us for “brightening up [his] Saturdays”, and it reminds us that the world would be better if we brightened up more often, like that, every day.
Finally, there is Marie-France, who questions the use of the verb “to extend” by Martin St-Louis, but that’s for another time.
Apart from that, we can talk about the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs, the Seattle Seahawks and the 49ers, who will all play big games on Sunday, but let’s be serious: the meeting will not be not to be missed will be presented in the evening in Dallas.
Yes, Eagles versus Cowboys. What more can be said ? Dak Prescott facing this solid defense in green, Micah Parsons who will spend the evening trying to get rid of those who are going to hook him (we’re looking at you, Lane Johnson), and who will constantly be on the heels of Jalen Hurts. We will understand that the result will have a huge impact on the future of things in the National Conference.
To quote Marc Blondin: be there, ladies and gentlemen!
