We’ve now seen the 49ers play from behind against both the Packers and Lions.
The Packers blew their lead with 1:11 left and the Lions took a free fall from their commanding halftime lead in the third quarter.
In both of those comeback efforts, Brock Purdy emerged from the pocket with several scrambles. He tallied a couple of chunk plays on route to 48 rushing yards against the Lions.
He’s netted an average of 31 yards in the playoffs, which is a conspicuous boost from his 8.9 yards per game throughout the regular season.
What stands out from the regular season is that two of Purdy’s highest scrimmage yard totals came in games the 49ers were trailing and subsequently lost.
His career-high came in the 31-17 loss to the Bengals on Oct. 29, in which he tallied 57 yards on six attempts.
The following two were for 20 yards against the Steelers, who were No. 6 in blitz percentage, and for 19 yards against the Vikings, who led the NFL.
Both the Lions and Packers were top six teams in pressure rate this season. Guess what the Chiefs share with everyone here: Top-seven ranks in both blitzing and pressure rate.
There’s no question we will see an aggressive pass rush from Chris Jones and friends as Kansas City will look to put what many believe to be San Francisco’s “weakest link” under duress.
But the truth is Purdy is not the weakest link. All five times he scrambled for positive yardage in the last two games resulted in scoring drives.
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And lest we overlook Kansas City having yielded 20.1 scrimmage yards to opposing quarterbacks in the regular season — a rate that finished as the eighth-highest.
Purdy’s line of 11.5 yards for his Super Bowl rushing prop was just eclipsed by both Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen. The Over offers plenty of exciting value.
THE PLAY: Purdy Over 11.5 rushing yards (-110, FanDuel)
