Golden Nuggets: Bring on the Cowboys

Kawakami: Why Brock Purdy is the 49ers’ QB1 into the future and Trey Lance is QB2 (paywall)

“The first game he ever started, he called timeout,” Deebo said. “That kind of shocked me. Kyle don’t play that. That showed me the type of guy he is.”...Deebo doesn’t just toss out praise like that for fun. When Deebo notes that the rookie QB has the guts and gumption to stop the game himself, that is very much worth noting. I believe Samuel was referring to the early moments of the second quarter against Tampa Bay on Dec. 11, when Purdy was making his first start for the injured Jimmy Garoppolo. The 49ers were already up 14-0 and driving; Purdy scrambled for a yard on third-and-1 from the Tampa Bay 33-yard line, and then came the timeout.....Three plays after resetting things, Purdy threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey and the game was basically done.”

Branch: 49ers’ game review: What happened in the worst half of Brock Purdy’s NFL career? (paywall)

“Do Purdy’s initial issues Saturday portend trouble when the stakes and competition rise? Shanahan said Purdy wasn’t suffering from big-stage nerves but might have been too “amped up.”

Rapoport on 49ers’ Brock Purdy: “How is he not the starting quarterback next [season]?”

“Trey Lance, I think, could be very good, but it’s not like he was blowing the doors off the thing when he was in there earlier in the year,” Rapoport said. “Brock Purdy comes in and has got that thing humming. I think it’s really impressive.”

Lombardi: Three under-the-radar reasons the 49ers are better situated for a Super Bowl run (paywall)

“Margins were razor-thin during last season’s white-knuckle playoff run. Now, the 49ers are blasting through gaping holes and running into wide-open spaces on the field. They’ve won 11 straight games as a result. Their average margin of victory over that stretch is about 17 points. This is a dominant streak, and it’s safe to say that Kyle Shanahan’s team is in a significantly better position now than last January.”

Kittle explains how Purdy’s college failures aided 49ers’ win

“He’s been in a little trouble at halftime before,” Kittle told King. “A lot of times, probably. He’s played from behind before; he’s played from ahead before. He has all the repetitions. Failure is a big part of learning to play quarterback in the NFL, and he had success and failure in college, so nothing here is really new for him.”

49ers sign DB A.J. Parker to a reserve/future contract

“Parker (5-11, 178) originally signed with the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent on May 14, 2021. In two seasons with the Lions (2021-22), he appeared in 16 games (seven starts) and registered 61 tackles, seven passes defensed, one interception, and one forced fumble.”