A week is a long time in football.
It’s the old adage that rings true across all football codes, but none more so than the NFL, with the unpredictable nature of results from week to week.
Week 13 was a perfect example, as Tom Brady went from making unwanted history last week in a heartbreaking loss to the Cleveland Browns to making history in Tampa Bay’s last gasp win over division rivals, the New Orleans Saints.
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FROM “MR IRRELEVANT” TO MR VERY RELEVANT
Brock Purdy, who assumed the title of “Mr Irrelevant” after being taken with the 262nd and final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, has been thrust into the spotlight following a serious foot injury to Jimmy Garoppolo on the second drive of San Fransico’s Week 13 win.
Purdy was thrown into the starting quarterback role Monday (AEDT) against Miami, helping lead the 49ers to a dominant 33-17 victory over the Dolphins (8-4).
Mr. Irrelevant is the nickname given to the final pick of each year’s draft. Since 1994, the most notable “Mr. Irrelevants” have been linebacker Marty Moore (the first to play in a Super Bowl), kicker Ryan Succop, linebacker Tae Crowder and quarterback Chad Kelly (the nephew of Hall of Famer Jim Kelly who played one career snap). Not exactly a who’s who of memorable NFL performers.
Sunday, Purdy became the first Mr. Irrelevant to throw a regular-season touchdown pass. The rookie, who completed 25 of 37 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns while throwing one interception and taking three sacks, displayed toughness by standing in the pocket and delivering under pressure into tight windows.
Despite Wednesday’s (AEDT) news that Garoppolo’s foot injury won’t require surgery, the veteran signal caller will still be out until January at best, meaning the starting job is Purdy’s until the end of the regular season at the very least.
With the win, Sanfransisco moved to 8-4 (currently the NFC’s No. 3 seed, with a one-game lead over 7-5 Seattle in the NFC West race), handing Purdy the unprecedented chance to guide San Francisco to the playoffs in his first year.
Since the draft moved to seven rounds in 1994, no quarterback selected in the final round has started a playoff game as a rookie.
Only six seventh-round signal-callers have even appeared in a playoff game during this time period (Jay Walker, Gus Frerotte, Matt Cassel, Koy Detmer, Jarious Jackson and Matt Flynn), with none accomplishing the feat in Year 1. If we expand the parameters to undrafted quarterbacks, we get more postseason hits — the most famous being Kurt Warner, along with the likes of Tony Romo and, more recently, Taylor Heinicke and John Wolford. But again, none of them were rookies when making that first postseason appearance.
San Francisco 49ers All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams believes Purdy has what it takes to become the first.
“You would think he’s been in the league 15 years,” Williams said.
“If you’re talking, he’ll say, ‘Shut your a — up.’ He ain’t no timid rookie feeling his way around. He will get on your a–. You would think he’s like Peyton Manning or something. Wide receivers not running, you’ll hear him cussing a wide receiver out.”
With a dominant defence and a run-heavy offence, the 49ers don’t need Purdy to be the hero, they just need him to avoid turnovers and move the chains as he did this past Sunday.
If he can do that, then the seventh-round rookie should be able to lead San Fransico to the playoffs, and in the process make history.
FALCONS SET TO RIDE WITH RIDDER
After four losses in the last five weeks and failing to muster more than 17 points in each of its those losses, Atlanta is looking to the future, announcing that rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder will be thrust into the starting line-up for Week 15.
According to a report early this morning (AEDT) by NFL Network Insider’s Ian Rapoport, the Falcons are using their bye week to prepare the 2022 third-round pick to take over as the starter next week against the Saints, officially replacing veteran Marcus Mariota.
The move doesn’t come as a shock to those around the league, as it has looked inevitable since Atlanta traded Matt Ryan to Indianapolis and spent a Day 2 pick on the former Cincinnati star.
Despite the rookie showing flashes of a bright future during the pre-season, the Falcons have taken a patient approach with Ridder by sitting him behind Mariota for the first 13 weeks of the season.
Atlanta stands at 5-8 overall, but has run into a rough patch offensively, with Mariota not posing much of a threat in the passing game in recent weeks, breaking 200 yards just once since Week 7. Unsurprisingly, Atlanta has won just twice since then.
BIG PLAYOFF BLOW IN BUFFALO
The Bill’s greatest fear has become a reality in a nightmare scenario for their hopes of winning the Super Bowl this season.
Big money recruit and all-world pass rusher Von Miller will not be returning in 2022 after surgery this week revealed he had suffered a torn ACL, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott announced on Thursday (AEDT).
After Miller suffered the injury during the Bills’ win over the Lions on Thanksgiving, the team had initially hoped that the former Super Bowl MVP would be back come the playoffs, but alas it was not meant to be.
The 33-year-old had accumulated a team-leading eight sacks in 11 games before going down, making him extremely difficult to replace in Buffalo’s quest for a championship.
