The Baltimore Ravens are gearing up for a pivotal Christmas night matchup against the San Francisco 49ers and undoubtedly wish to refrain from providing the opposition with any bulletin board material.
Still, starting safety Kyle Hamilton wanted to emphasize his respect for the 49ers’ second-year quarterback, Brock Purdy, despite lingering labels such as “game manager” or “system quarterback” still being cast on the young player.
The game of Week 16 will be when the Baltimore Ravens face the San Francisco 49ers on Christmas in a battle between the current No. 1 seeds.
There are many storylines in this game, including MVP candidates facing off in Lamar Jackson and Brock Purdy, and the No. 2 49ers offense versus the No. 2 Ravens defense.
The 49ers offense in particular has been on fire lately, putting up over 400 yards in six of their last seven games and scoring at least 27 points in their last six contests.
Purdy has also been phenomenal lately, throwing 10 touchdowns over the 49ers last three games.
Baltimore’s offense is second overall and first in sacks and points allowed per game. Ravens’ safety Kyle Hamilton will be a large part of the Ravens defense that plans to stop Purdy and the 49ers offense.
Though Hamilton believes the Ravens are the NFL’s best team, he isn’t underestimating the challenge Purdy will bring.
While many say Purdy is just a system quarterback, Hamilton knows he’s more of a threat than that.
“Word around the league is he’s a system quarterback, Hamilton said. He’s making every throw that you can make as a quarterback, he’s on time, on target, makes good decisions, is mobile and has a great cast around him at the same time.”
As it turns out, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy’s endorsement for Most Valuable Player doesn’t carry quite as much weight as his play. Which is why, less than 24 hours after Purdy declared that Niners running back Christian McCaffrey should win the award, it was Purdy himself who emerged as the clear favorite to take it home.
As of Tuesday evening, Purdy was a -215 favorite to win MVP, according to ESPN Bet. He’s the first odds-on favorite in the MVP market all season.“I think more than anything, it is a team award,”
Purdy told ESPN.
Those discussions will be turned up even more this week as the Niners prepare for a Christmas night showdown against the Baltimore Ravens (8:15 p.m. ET Monday, Levi’s Stadium, ABC/ESPN+), a game that features the two betting favorites to meet in the Super Bowl and three of the league’s five top MVP candidates in Purdy, McCaffrey (fifth at +1200) and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (second at +450).
For now, Purdy is the favorite and has a clear path to becoming the first Niner to win MVP since quarterback Steve Young in 1994.
“I think he’s playing the best on the team that’s playing the best in the entire league,”
Warner said.
Through 14 games, Purdy leads the NFL in QBR, yards per attempt, expected points added per dropback, touchdown passes and touchdown-to-interception ratio and sits at or near the top of many other important categories.
That Purdy’s counting stats rank so highly despite just 27.4 pass attempts per game (21st in the league, fewest of any quarterback that has started every game) is testament to him posting historic efficiency numbers.
Purdy ranks first or second in expected points added (EPA) on throws at every level beginning at or behind the line of scrimmage up to those that travel at least 30 yards in the air.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, there have been five quarterbacks that led the league in yards per attempt and touchdown-to-interception ratio in a season since 2000.
Purdy’s yards per attempt (9.9) is on pace to be the third-highest mark in a season in NFL history, trailing only Hall of Famers Otto Graham (1953) and Norm Van Brocklin (1954).
“He’s doing what they ask him to do and he’s doing it as high a level as any quarterback that’s being asked to do anything in their team in the NFL,”
said Warner, who currently has Purdy in the top three of his MVP lists.
Like Purdy and passing numbers, McCaffrey ranks at or near the top of the league in every major rushing and receiving category among running backs.
Passing yards: 3,795 (2nd) Air yards/attempt: 8.3 (4th) Yards/completion: 14.2 (1st) And while Purdy’s production on relatively few attempts is impressive, the Niners are still a run-first offense with McCaffrey as the do-everything fulcrum.
“But if any non-quarterback is going to get an MVP, I don’t get how Christian McCaffrey can’t. If it’s going to a quarterback, then I don’t have to talk about Christian.”
McCaffrey isn’t the only Niner who is brought up in the argument against Purdy. Detractors point out that Purdy is surrounded by the best supporting cast of skill players and playcaller — Shanahan — in the league.
The Niners are a dominant yards-after-catch force, posting 6.49 yards after catch per completion, which is easily the best mark in the league.
“All great quarterbacks are surrounded by great players. You don’t have Hall of Fame quarterbacks that didn’t have great players around them.”
There are other contenders beyond Purdy and McCaffrey, including Jackson, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
Purdy is averaging just 5.4 pass attempts (only Jackson tries fewer) and has played an average of 12.6 snaps (only Tua Tagovailoa has played fewer) in the closing quarter.
That means Purdy not only is missing out on opportunities to pile up numbers but has also had very few chances to lead the type of late and game-winning drives that might stand out to voters.
“I think more than anything, just putting the team first, wanting to win more than anything and getting to where we need to be as a team,” Purdy said.
Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton shuts down Brock Purdy ‘system quarterback’ narrative ahead of matchup versus 49ers.
There are many storylines in this game, including MVP candidates facing off in Lamar Jackson and Brock Purdy, and the No. 2 49ers offense versus the No. 2 Ravens defense.
The 49ers offense in particular has been on fire lately, putting up over 400 yards in six of their last seven games and scoring at least 27 points in their last six contests.
Purdy has also been phenomenal lately, throwing 10 touchdowns over the 49ers last three games. Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton will be a large part of the Ravens defense that plans to stop Purdy and the 49ers offense.
