If it was any other year in this century, Brock Purdy’s first NFL start would have more hype than any other game of his life, and the end result would have shaken out in one of two ways: Either the ageless talent of Tom Brady would outperform the Mr. Irrelevant of the 2022 NFL Draft, or Purdy would immediately establish himself as a solid quarterback having outdueled arguably the greatest signal-caller of all time.
But that is not the case ahead of Sunday’s game between the San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The excitement around this quarterback matchup between a future first-ballot Hall of Famer and surprise rookie who was less than three months old when his competitor was drafted has been rather subdued, as has been the case with much of the showdowns involving Brady this particular season.