Andy Reid explains why Brock Purdy is key to 49ers' Kyle Shanahan finally achieving ultimate goal
Few coaches in the NFL have experienced as much heartbreak as Andy Reid did over the course of his first 20 seasons as an NFL head coach, but Kyle Shanahan is getting close after his first eight with the San Francisco 49ers. Shanahan has enjoyed remarkable consistency since taking over the 49ers in 2017. After […]
Few coaches in the NFL have experienced as much heartbreak as Andy Reid did over the course of his first 20 seasons as an NFL head coach, but Kyle Shanahan is getting close after his first eight with the San Francisco 49ers.
Shanahan has enjoyed remarkable consistency since taking over the 49ers in 2017. After two difficult seasons to start his tenure, Shanahan has led San Francisco four NFC Championship Games and two Super Bowl appearances in the last five seasons.
Yet he still does not have a Super Bowl title.
The primary reason for that is Reid, whose Kansas City Chiefs team recorded a second Super Bowl victory over the 49ers in an overtime thriller last month, having also beaten Shanahan's Niners at the end of the 2019 season with an epic fourth-quarter comeback.
Reid has won three Super Bowls with the Chiefs in five seasons. Prior to that run, Reid was the NFL coach who could not get over the hump, failing to win the Super Bowl despite reaching the postseason in 14 of his first 20 seasons.
The difference now is that Reid has the best quarterback in the league, and arguably already the greatest of all time, in Patrick Mahomes.
Speaking at the NFL league owners' meetings, Reid was asked about Shanahan's struggles getting over the top, and he expressed optimism that it eventually will happen for the 49ers head coach, in large part because of the quarterback he now has under center.
"It's so hard to win in this league. It gave you an appreciation for that — at the highest level, it's so hard to win," said Reid of his own past experience. "Everything has to bounce your way. And it didn't there for a while. But you figured if you kept pounding, something was going to change.
"Just keep doing what you’re doing and somewhere you pop over the hill there. I know he’s [Shanahan] got a great young quarterback and him with a great young quarterback is deadly."
Reid's praise for 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy echoed similar comments from defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who in the weeks after the Chiefs' 25-22 defeat of San Francisco expressed great admiration for the final pick in the 2022 draft.
Expanding on his thoughts on Purdy, Reid added: "A lot of respect for Brock. He does a nice job, I don't really care where he got picked, it doesn't matter to me. He's just a good player. He sees the field, he's got good accuracy, great timing with his receivers, he's calm, you feel like he's got everything kind of in control."
That sense of calm was apparent as Purdy consistently avoided the Kansas City pass rush to make plays under heavy fire in a see-saw battle in Las Vegas.
Purdy is not close to being on the same level as the quarterback who bested him at Allegiant Stadium but, as Reid concisely articulated, he is a signal-caller worthy of Shanahan's belief, and as such the 49ers are likely to continue competing to get over the hump in the coming years.
Finally doing so might just require Reid and Mahomes to get out of the way.
