Your daily San Francisco 49ers links for Sunday, October 1, 2023.
Happy game day, everybody. It feels like the 49ers haven’t played in a month. We’ll finally get to see them in action today. Hopefully, that includes Deebo Samuel.
Perhaps more importantly, it sounded an alarm within the walls of the locker room before their meeting with Arizona on Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, Levi’s Stadium, Fox) that the Cardinals, who are 7-5 against the 49ers since Shanahan took over in 2017, are no pushovers. Before the Cardinals beat the Cowboys, the Week 5 meeting between San Francisco and Dallas was shaping up to be an epic showdown. Had both teams entered unbeaten, there’s reason to believe it would be one of the most hyped regular-season matchups in recent memory, especially given the history between the two franchises.
And while there still figures to be plenty of pomp and circumstance for that one, the Cardinals’ win against the Cowboys offered a resounding reminder that the Niners can’t overlook Arizona if they want to be undefeated when Dallas comes to town.
Count Fox Sports blatherer Nick Wright in the Purdy-doubter camp. n fact, he sees a lot of very unpopular ex-49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo in Purdy.
Wright said that during Week 3’s game against New York, he invited folks on Twitter to play a game while watching Purdy—mark the throws that made you say, “Yikes,” and the throws that made you say, “Wow.”
“I ended up doing it and I came along with what most people did—about five yikes and two wows,” Wright said.
And while no one is claiming that Purdy will morph into a Hall of Famer this season, the only really pertinent question in San Francisco is whether it will be Purdy who prevents the juggernaut 49ers from winning the Super Bowl.
Asked that question, Wright said, “Yes. Yes.”
How Juszczyk’s Ravens tenure helped 49ers build strong culture
“Everybody was held very accountable,” Juszczyk said. “Obviously, on the field and how you played, and knowing your assignments and all those kinds of things. Also, just being around in the building. Just being a good person, being on time. When you’re in the meeting room, being checked in and dialed in and actually paying attention, there was such a stress on that. There was so much leadership and a certain way had already been set before I got there.
“When you came in, you can sense it, you can feel it, and you just tried to fit in right away. Definitely a very stable organization.”
49ers legend Ronnie Lott laughs off remaining Purdy doubters.
The question: What would be your message to anybody who might still be questioning Brock Purdy?
Lott’s response: A look that might as well have been an invitation for pain, followed by a smile that stopped my sweat and had Lott laughing at anyone doubting the 49ers’ young quarterback.
“I gotta laugh,” Lott said to NBC Sports Bay Area, “because it’s evident that when you play against certain people, you watch certain people and you watch what they do, you understand the timing it takes to put the ball where you need to put the ball. And to me, I think what’s interesting is I don’t ever see him late.”
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