The San Francisco 49ers comfortably cruised to a 30-12 victory, opening their home slate with a win on Thursday Night Football to improve to 3-0 on the season.
Quarterback Brock Purdy passed for 310 yards and two touchdowns, but was on-and-off for portions of the night, struggling at times with his ball placement, but making it up with good poise and decision-making in the second half.
However, the 49ers signal-caller didn't seem as comfortable in the pocket as weeks past. What changed against the Giants?
The answer: defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, who is known for his high-pressure, man-coverage defenses that have yielded strong results in the past.
With the disadvantages that the Giants had defensively, Martindale elected to operate with a significant number of blitzes, and it was actually the highest blitz rate in Next Gen Stats history, with New York coming after Purdy with 33 blitzes on 39 dropbacks, or an 85% rate.
The Giants blitzed Brock Prudy on 33 of his 39 dropbacks (84.6%), the highest blitz rate in a game in the NGS era.
Likewise, Purdy averaged the fastest time to throw of his career (2.34 seconds).
💡 Purdy vs Blitz: 20/31, 247 yards, 2 TD
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— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 22, 2023
As a result, Purdy averaged the fastest time to throw of his career at 2.34 seconds, completing 20/31 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns against the blitz.
That changed the 49ers' MO offensively, as the 49ers operated with a yards-after-catch approach, as 215 of Purdy's 310 passing yards, or 69%, came after the pass.
The blitz rate increased in the second half from 79.2% to 93.3%, as New York tried to overcome its personnel issues with a plethora of disguised coverages and the hope of getting the ball out of Purdy's hands quickly.
Unfortunately, the effort wasn't enough, as the 49ers still put up 30 points, improving to 3-0 on the season, and will look to continue their strong start at home against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 4.