Brock Purdy may be minting a dark horse MVP candidacy early on this season, but the 49ers quarterback might as well be running to be president of the United States.
uncertain
quarterback → mint → States
It’s already like he’s being protected by the Secret Service.
asserted
he → ’ → Service
Purdy has hardly hit the ground, or been hit at all, through two weeks.
asserted
Purdy → hit → weeks
Once thought to be a potential problem area, the Niners’ offensive line has been anything but.
asserted
line → think → ?
In fact, the group is already making its case as one of the best in franchise history.
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group → make → history
On Sunday, as the Niners seek their fourth 3-0 start since 2019 against the Arizona Cardinals, they’ll also be trying to keep their QB upright for the third consecutive contest.
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they → seek → contest
Thirty one teams in the NFL allowed their quarterback to be sacked in Weeks 1 and 2.
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quarterback → allow → Weeks
The average QB has been hit and gone down behind the line of scrimmage 4.7 times.
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QB → hit → scrimmage
Purdy, of course, has been far from average — and so have the five blockers in front of him.
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blockers → have → him
Anchored by Trent Williams at left tackle, San Francisco has already separated itself from the rest of the league as the only group not to surrender a sack yet this season.
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Francisco → anchor → sack
It’s already a franchise first — every previous Niners team had allowed at least one sack by Week 2.
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team → ’ → Week
Left guard Connor Colby was the question mark, only anointed the starter when he took the field for the 49ers’ opening drive in Week 1, but has more than held his own.
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he → anoint → own
Although Colby started six games as a rookie last season, coach Kyle Shanahan said the past two weeks have “probably been his two most consistent games.”
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weeks → start → rookie
He is responsible for only two of the 12 pressures the 49ers have allowed, while the group as a whole ranks behind only the Colts in Pro Football Focus’ pass-blocking efficiency metric.
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group → allow → metric
With their 2-0 start, the 49ers improved to 17-4 under Shanahan when not allowing a sack.
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49ers → improve → sack
They’re in position to enter even more rarefied air against the Cardinals.
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They → ’re → Cardinals
Their defense ranked fourth from the bottom last season in sacks, with only 10 more than the last-place 49ers (20), and have been in the bottom our in two of defensive coordinator Nick Rallis’ first three seasons.
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defense → rank → seasons
It’s been more of the same in Year 4, with four sacks and a 21% pressure rate that both rank in the bottom-third of the league through two weeks.
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that → rank → weeks
Arizona has dialed up blitzes on only 16.1% of snaps, the fourth-lowest rate in the league.
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Arizona → dial → league
All would seem to bode well for the 49ers extending their perfect protection streak.
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49ers → seem → streak
If they don’t allow a sack against the Cardinals, they would become only the eighth team since 1970 to begin a season with three straight weeks with a clean sack column on the stat sheet.
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they → allow → sheet
Six of the previous seven went on to make the playoffs.
asserted
Six → go → playoffs
Four of the 49ers’ teams of the 1970s went three games without allowing a sack at any point in the season, but no team has done it since or ever extended the streak to four games.
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team → go → games
Still, they have a long way to go if they’re going to enter the NFL record books.
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they → have → books
The 1988 Miami Dolphins went an astonishing 12 straight games without allowing a sack of Dan Marino.
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Dolphins → go → Marino
Purdy wears No. 13 because of Marino; turns out that isn’t the only thing they have in common.
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they → wear → Marino
Marquee matchup: TE Trey McBride vs. 49ers LBs
Raheem Morris so far hasn’t had to scheme for a tight end the caliber of McBride, a two-time Pro Bowler named a first-team All-Pro last season.
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Morris → have → McBride
The 6-foot-4 caused problems when they faced off in Week 11 of last year, hauling in 10 catches for 115 yards and a score, but he was primarily matched up against Dee Winters, Nick Martin and Curtis Robinson.
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he → cause → Winters
He’ll be met with an entirely different challenge in Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw and rookie Jaden Dugger.
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He → meet → Warner
McBride led all tight ends with 4.6 yards after the catch last season; the Seahawks still allowed him to catch the ball eight times in their 31-7 win last week — but for only 41 total yards (15 YAC).
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him → lead → yards
The score: 49ers 42, Cardinals 21
Seattle went into Arizona with its backup quarterback and tore apart Arizona’s defense for 381 yards.
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Seattle → go → yards
Now imagine what Brock Purdy and Kyle Shanahan will be able to do with the 49ers’ offense firing on all cylinders.
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offense → imagine → cylinders
After bulldozing through the first two teams on their schedule — and with the transcontinental opening to the season officially behind them — there are no excuses for the Niners not to extend their red-hot start with a third win of 20-plus points.
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Niners → bulldoze → points
The 49ers had to wait until the second half to pull away from the Dolphins because their offense only got two possessions before halftime.
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offense → have → halftime
They’ll have to get better at getting off the field so that Purdy and Co. can get to work.
asserted
Purdy → have → work
Jacoby Brissett may not make many big plays, but he isn’t going to give the ball up, either, with the lowest interception rate on record in the NFL (1.4%), so getting stops will be paramount.
uncertain
getting → make → stops
Through two games, the 49ers have scored as many touchdowns in the red zone as the Cardinals have trips.
asserted
Cardinals → score → trips
Just one of San Francisco’s visits to the red zone haven’t ended in touchdowns, the best rate in the NFL, whereas Arizona has had to settle for three points on half its red-zone drives, bottom-10 in the league.
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Arizona → end → league
The Niners have allowed opponents inside their 20 five times but yielded only one touchdown.
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Niners → allow → touchdown
GET CMC INVOLVED:
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CMC → get → ?
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
