The adversity faced during Sunday's 37-34 overtime win against the Las Vegas Raiders will only help the San Francisco 49ers. There have been some closer-than-expected games during the team's impressive nine-game win streak, but nothing like what it faced on New Year's Day at Allegiant Stadium.
The 49ers trailed the Raiders 24-14 in the third quarter, and it looked like the team's win streak might finally come to an end. For the first time since entering the game in Week 13, following Jimmy Garoppolo's injury, rookie quarterback Brock Purdy and the Niners faced a deficit.
Everyone remained calm on the 49ers' sideline, though. The defense struggled for the first time since Week 7, and it was up to Purdy and the offense to keep pace with their underrated opponent.
The rookie quarterback believes the adversity of Sunday's game will only make them better. That's good news, with the playoffs quickly approaching.
"Obviously, I think it's something that we really needed and what I needed," Purdy said Tuesday morning on KNBR. "Just some adversity, especially on the road. The environment started to pick up, and you just feel the game moving forward. Like, 'Man, this is going to come down to a last-possession type of game.'
"And so for us, we didn't really freak out or panic or any of that kind of stuff. It was, We know where we're at in the game. We know what we have to do. We know what it looks like to be successful. And we just have to hone in to what we've done in the past. And that's exactly what we did."
San Francisco mounted a comeback, trading punches with the Raiders in the end and taking the game into overtime, where Robbie Gould kicked a game-winning field goal. Purdy finished the game 22-of-35 for 284 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception, earning his fourth consecutive Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week nomination, an honor he won last week.
More importantly, the 49ers unseated the Minnesota Vikings for the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoff picture and have a shot at the No. 1 seed in Week 18.
"We just focused on the play calls, what we had to do with our assignments and stuff," Purdy shared. "I had to get my eyes in the right spot, get the ball out, be a point guard, distribute it to the right guys on the field and make plays from there. So we just sunk back into those habits and let everything else take care of itself. But it was good for us. We needed it."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Purdy below.
