Saturday, 4 a.m.
Consider the unlikeliness of the Brock Purdy story.
Consider the trip from irrelevance, from the 262nd pick of the 2022 draft. Consider how he beat out the designated future in Trey Lance. Consider his 21-8 regular season record.
Now, consider that his play against the Tampa Bay Bucs has been the most unlikely part of his story.
Granted, Purdy has been an amazing story since joining the 49ers. But his rating of 149.8 has led San Francisco to wins in both of his starts against the Bucs, hitting 37 of 46 passes for 518 yards and five touchdowns.
Behind him, the 49ers have beaten the Bus 35-7 and 27-14.
Oh, it isn’t all Purdy. The 49ers have Christian McCafferty and Deebo Samuel and George Kittle.
The Bucs, who have lost three straight, have the home field advantage, at least. But the 49ers are a team that has played beneath their talent level this year. They’re 4-4. They need to get a foothold on the season.
Do the Bucs have enough weapons to make it a game?
Prediction: San Francisco 28, Tampa Bay 17.
In other NFL games:
Atlanta 28, New Orleans 13.
Patriots 17, N.Y. Giants 16.
Pittsburgh 20, Washington 17.
Detroit 27, Houston 24.
Kansas City 24, Denver 14.
And in the college games:
Navy 30, USF 24.
Georgia 31, Ole Miss 30.
Miami 30, Georgia Tech 14.
Notre Dame 35, FSU 14.
Texas 41, Florida 21.