Given the competition in the NFC West and the litany of injuries that the San Francisco 49ers were dealing with, it was easy to write them off as a contender. But after four weeks, they are one of just three undefeated teams in the league.
A lot of that success has come from Brock Purdy. After years of scrutiny about how good he truly was, he seems to have ascended in everyone's eyes. But former MVP Cam Newton, who once called him a "game manager," doesn't want to apologize for that designation.
With a running game that hasn't set the world on fire and a receiving core that has been battling with a string of injuries throughout the year, the 49ers still have the best unit on PFN's Offense Impact Metric.
That is a direct result of Purdy, who is also at pole position on PFN's Quarterback Impact Metric with 1,007 passing yards and 11 touchdowns against just one interception, while adding 122 yards and a touchdown on the ground as well.
"Hell no," was Newton's exclamation when asked if he would be apologizing to the former Mr Irrelevant for his earlier assessment of him as a "game manager" rather than a "game changer."
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"This assignment is standing on business, and I'mma stand on it. And just because I called him a game manager, y'all treated it as an insult. That wasn't an insult," he further clarified on the latest episode of the "4th & 1 With Cam Newton" podcast.
It was a term that a lot of people used to describe Purdy in the early stages of his career. Given the wealth of weapons on the 49ers' roster (Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Trent Williams, Deebo Samuel, and Brandon Aiyuk), alongside the offensive excellence of Kyle Shanahan, the success of the team was credited to the collective rather than Purdy alone.
"Just because Brock Purdy is playing out of his mind right now, I ain't going to recant what I called him as a game manager," Newton continued. "What I will do is give him his flowers. He's playing some good ball."
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However, Newton still believed the 49ers and their coaching staff played a factor in it, adding, "We've got to understand he has an unbelievable team around him. We can'tjust act like without the mention of Kyle Shanahan. We can't just forget about the mentions of Trent Williams. We can't even forget about the whole offense not even allowing to sack this whole year, going until week five."
Pointing to a returning Samuel, Mike Evans, and Kittle as his current weapons, the Carolina Panthers legend did not want to diminish the roster entirely. Moreover, he believed the team had immense talent on the other side of the ball as well.
"John Lynch has assembled the ultimate team and dynasty. So all Brock Purdy got to do is do what Brock Purdy needs to do. Now, has he stepped outside and made some plays? Yes. And I tip my hat to him."
As a result, Newton's mind was made up: "So all that to say I'm not going to recant. Brock Purdy is playing lights out, probably the best, as we mentioned in the earlier week's show. He's my favorite to win MVP."
It remains to be seen if Purdy can change the minds of some of his harshest skeptics. While still a strong roster with an elite offensive mind at the helm, this 49ers team doesn't have the same level of talent that it once did earlier in Purdy's career.
But sustained excellence, especially with a Week 5 game against the reigning champions, the Seattle Seahawks, could be a perfect opportunity for him to further improve his standing around the league and in the eyes of former players and media as well.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network .
