Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers go under in the NFL – against San Francisco there is a rough defeat. At the 49ers, a player becomes a match winner who no one had in mind and who only played because the team was plagued by bad luck with injuries.
When Brock Purdy was picked as the last football player in the NFL draft by the San Francisco 49ers, he traditionally had an immediate title: “Mr. Irrelevant”. This “Mr. Insignificant” made his debut in the NFL on Sunday, against a team led by Tom Brady, who won his first Super Bowl when Purdy was a toddler. And what happened? Purdy scored a touchdown himself, threw the pass for two more, and gave the San Francisco 49ers a 35-7 win over Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He is now the first quarterback in NFL history to make his first starting XI against a Brady team and not lose. All of this was made possible because Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance are injured – and Purdy is now very relevant for the 49ers. “It was unreal,” Purdy said of meeting Brady on the pitch after the game. “As a kid I saw him do it in all the Super Bowls over the years and to be able to high five with him now is pretty cool.”
Meanwhile, the Kansas City Chiefs became the first team of the season to win their division, securing a place in the playoffs. The team around star quarterback Patrick Mahomes won the away game at the Denver Broncos on Sunday with 34:28. After a 27-0 lead, the Chiefs had to tremble more than expected, but defended their lead and are the winners of the AFC West. The Philadelphia Eagles had previously made it into the playoffs with their twelfth win of the season, but unlike the Chiefs they are not yet sure of first place in their division. The Dallas Cowboys, who won the Texas duel with the Houston Texans 27:23, could theoretically still intercept the Eagles in the strong NFC East.
The Detroit Lions, who unexpectedly clearly prevailed against the Minnesota Vikings, provided an official hammer and thus still have a chance at the playoffs. The team around the German-American Amon-Ra St. Brown beat the favorites 34:23 and inflicted only the third defeat on the Vikings. The Lions are now on six wins and seven losses and within reach of wildcard ranks for the NFL playoffs. St. Brown caught six passes for a total of 68 yards. Lions quarterback Jared Goff threw three touchdown passes and failed to throw to the opponent. The Vikings will have to wait at least a week because of the loss before they can secure their playoff spot.
