San Francisco secured the NFC West title with three regular season games left
The San Francisco 49ers became the second NFL team to seal a place in this season’s play-offs after breezing past at divisional rivals Seattle Seahawks 21-13 on Thursday night.
Rookie quarterback Brock Purdy, on just his second NFL start, threw two touchdown passes to tight end George Kittle to give the 49ers a seventh straight win and move to a 10-4 record.
That secured the NFC West title with three regular season games left.
The Seahawks (7-7) can still make the post-season via a wild-card spot.
The 22-year-old Purdy was his year’s ‘Mr Irrelevant’, the nickname given to the player selected last in the NFL draft.
However, injuries to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo have handed the 262nd draft pick an unexpected opportunity to lead the 49ers into the play-offs and potentially to Super Bowl 57.
Since the draft moved to seven rounds in 1994, no quarterback selected in the final round has started a play-off game as a rookie – and only six have played in a play-off game at any point in their career.
Purdy became the first Mr Irrelevant to throw a regular-season touchdown pass when he replaced the injured Garoppolo two weeks ago.
Last week he became the first quarterback to beat record seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady on his first career start, as the 49ers defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-7.
He completed 17 of 26 passes for 217 yards in Seattle on his first away start on Thursday, while Kittle made four catches for 93 yards.
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