And yet the 49ers can consider themselves lucky compared to their rivals. Seattle will be playing its third game in 11 days on Thursday, having played on Monday Night Football in Detroit on Sept. 30, this past Sunday (a loss to the Giants) in Week 5, and now a Thursday nighter.

Brock Purdy has changed. When he first became the 49ers starting quarterback, he was a game manager. A ball distrubtor. He took what the defense gave him and checked the ball down when no one was open downfield.

The 49ers through Purdy’s first season-plus relied a ton on play action. In 2022 when he took over as a rookie, 26.6 percent of his dropbacks were play action according to Pro Football Focus. That trend continued in 2023 with 23.0 percent of his dropbacks featuring play action.