Brock Purdy torched Dallas on Sunday night in a 42-10 victory, the most lopsided result in the history of the 49ers-Cowboys rivalry.
The second-year quarterback went 17-of-24 passing with four touchdowns, took just one sack, and didn't turn the ball over before being replaced by Sam Darnold early in the fourth quarter.
Purdy became the first QB to start a career 10-0 since Ben Roethlisberger (2004-05) and one of four QBs to do so since 1950 (the first year QB starts were tracked). Purdy is the fourth QB in the last 30 seasons with four-plus pass TDs and zero interceptions in a game versus the No. 1 scoring defense entering that week (in Week 4 or later), per Elias Sports Bureau.
"He's just so consistent and he just continues to go out there and prove people wrong," fullback Kyle Juszczyk said, via ESPN. "I'm happy that he's able to go out here and have a four-touchdown game on national television because, not that it matters what people on the outside are saying about him, but he deserves more respect than what he gets, I think. I hope he gets a little bit of that from this."
Through five weeks, Purdy ranks first in passer rating (123.1), second in yards per attempt (9.3), second in completion percentage (72.1), tied for seventh in pass TDs (9), and eighth in yards (1,271).
"I mean, he was really good," coach Kyle Shanahan said of Purdy's performance Sunday night. "Everybody was pretty good. But thought he missed one throw throughout the day, from what it seemed like, just a little behind [Brandon Aiyuk] in the first quarter on one and everything else seemed pretty flawless. He did a great job versus a real good pass rush, some tight coverages, guys gave him some time. Also, the guys made a lot of plays, too."
Both the Cowboys and 49ers viewed Sunday's prime-time tilt as a measuring stick game for where they stood in the NFC. After the lopsided result, it's clear where the power resides.
The Niners joined the Philadelphia Eagles as the only 5-0 teams in the NFL. Not that Shanahan is popping any bottles for a fast start.
"Absolutely nothing," he said when asked about the significance of blowing out a rival. "If we would've lost this game, we would've been 4-1 and now we're 5-0. I mean it's exciting and all this is fun, but I've been in the NFL way too long, been 5-0 and haven't made the playoffs before. All that stuff really doesn't matter.
"The way people talked about it during the week, we didn't see it that way. I told our team last night whether we win or lose this game, I expect it to make us better. If we go out there and play like we're capable of, we should feel that and be able to carry it on the next week and get better. And if we go out there and we get beat, as long as we do it the right way, I think it'll make us better going forward after that. You want to be in games like this just leading up to it. You want to be battle-tested in every facet of stuff that can happen later in the season.
"I'm glad we did it the other way, being 5-0 feels good, but it means nothing until you get to the end."
The 49ers have scored 30-plus points in eight straight regular-season games dating back to 2022, the fifth-longest streak in NFL history. The primary QB in the four longest streaks each won an NFL MVP award during that span (Kurt Warner, 1999-2000; Tom Brady, 2010-11; Peyton Manning, 2012-13; Brady, 2006-07).
