December 13, 2024
Kelley L Cox/Imagn Image
49ers quarterback Brock Purdy bereft on the grass at Levi's Stadium.
Before the Eagles look to improve 12-2 on the season, a far cry from where things stood at the end of September, I'm going to take another look around the league with some NFL thoughts and takeaways...
The 49ers have a little 2005 Eagles energy to them. They're a team that could never win the big one coming off a devastating Super Bowl loss. They have massive injuries piling up and a supposed revenge tour is going to hell with drama building.
San Francisco fell on Thursday Night Football to the rival Rams this week, dropping their record to 6-8. They're currently the No. 11 seed in the NFC playoff picture with the dream of a Wild Card berth dead. Brock Purdy was sacked on the game's final play:
The @RamsNFL end it with a sack! pic.twitter.com/7GBU3uEt4a
— NFL (@NFL) December 13, 2024
Where do they go from here?
Purdy is eligible for a contract extension this offseason, but are they really going to break the bank for this guy? He's under contract for 2025 for a dirt cheap price for a guy on a seventh-rounder's rookie-scale contract. Kyle Shanahan has taken the likes of Jimmy Garoppolo and Purdy to the Super Bowl. There's an innate plug-and-play aspect of his offense that keeps decent quarterbacks chugging along.
Do the 49ers want to lock themselves into the limited ceiling of Purdy or let him go just to start this process all over again with another QB?
It's not an enviable position, but for a team that loves to talk smack, next season will yet another chance to finally back it up.
Also... they have guys just quitting in the middle of games:
#49ers LB De’Vondre Campbell told the team he didn’t want to play anymore and he left the game in the third quarter of tonight’s game, per HC Kyle Shanahan. pic.twitter.com/I1lEkpabhZ
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 13, 2024
Eager to hear the latest Deebo Samuel excuse about an impending below-.500 season!
T.J. Watt... really good at football.
There have been 15 instances where a player had at least 19 sacks in a season in the 21st century (via Stathead). Watt has two of them, including a 22.5-sack campaign in 2021 that's tied for the most in a season with Michael Strahan (rather controversially...). Watt's 106 sacks through his age-30 season are tied for the ninth most ever for a player once they reached that age marker (via Stathead). Watt's 32 forced fumbles are tied for the fifth most for a player through his age-30 season, too (via Stathead).
Both he and his brother will be in Canton one day.
The Commanders are at 8-5 and in the drivers' seat for the seventh and final playoff spot in the NFC. They've cooled off from their feisty 7-2 start, as has likely Offensive Rookie of the Year winner Jayden Daniels. Still, they put themselves into a nice spot with that great beginning to the year and are catching a bit of a break in New Orleans on Sunday.
The Saints will be starting 25-year-old Jake Haener at quarterback, his first ever NFL start. A 2023 fourth-round pick out of Fresno State, Haener has thrown just 29 passes in his pro career.
Congrats to Washington on their soon-to-be 9-5 record! They're lucky. The 8-6 Rams are getting hot, but maybe it's a bit too late for them in a strong NFC this season. Minnesota and Green Bay are already close to Wild Card locks. The seventh seed is still up for grabs!
Things aren't looking great for New Jersey New York football. Aaron Rodgers is cratering the Jets and the Giants are an amorphous blob that is only vaguely familiar with the concept of the sport.
How about this note from Giants practice this week?
The #Giants had a red-zone period of practice today outside in 30 degrees & 18 mph winds in which the offense went 0-for-17 on passes
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) December 12, 2024
0-4 vs. air (no defenders) & 0-for-13 in 1on1s vs defenders. A combo of drops, overthrows, defensive plays + 2 catches OB
Might have been one…
LOL.
Maybe the Giants inexplicably bring back head coach Brian Daboll next season, but I can also foresee a scenario in which their 2025 HC-QB combo is Deion and Shedeur Sanders...
Earlier this week, I ranked the best running backs of my lifetime as a 30-year-old. I will close this latest edition of "5 NFL thoughts" by ranking quarterbacks over that same span:
1. Tom Brady
2. Peyton Manning
3. Patrick Mahomes
4. Aaron Rodgers
5. Steve Young
6. Kurt Warner
7. Drew Brees
8. Brett Favre
9. John Elway
10. Nick Foles
Honorable mention: Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Russell Wilson
Troy Aikman? System quarterback.
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