SANTA CLARA – Brock Purdy’s record is flawless in Seattle, a fantastic 4-0 with annual victories in the 49ers’ regular-season visits.
His biggest win there could come Saturday, when the No. 6-seed 49ers (13-5) try to upset the No. 1 Seahawks (14-3) at the NFL’s rowdiest outdoor amphitheater, Lumen Field.
“As I’ve played, you start to learn and feed off the backs-against-the-wall mentality, of everybody there wants you to fail and all you have is your sideline, your team and The Faithful that travels,” Purdy said Wednesday.
“It’s a mentality that everybody’s out against us and we have to defend ourselves and fight,” Purdy added. “I’ve sort of learned as I’ve played, I really do like it. A lot of guys in the locker room do. If you’re in the NFL, you’re going to love that challenge.”
Historically, Purdy’s perfection in Seattle is topped in 49ers lore by, of course, Joe Montana, who won all nine games he played against the Los Angeles Rams in Anaheim and all nine he played in the New Orleans Superdome, including the 1988 season’s Super Bowl, according to The Associated Press’ Josh Dubow.
Each of Purdy’s wins in Seattle had its own signature:
Dec. 15, 2022 (21-13): Purdy won his road debut while overcoming a fractured rib from the previous game, when he replaced Jimmy Garoppolo in a win over Miami.
Nov. 23, 2023 (31-13): Thanksgiving night saw how high-powered the 49ers were en route to the NFC’s No. 1 seed, while Purdy passed for 209 yards, his lowest output yet in Seattle.
Oct. 10, 2024 (36-24): Purdy threw for 255 yards with three touchdown passes and no interceptions, leveling the 49ers’ record at 3-3 before a second-half collapse had them 6-11 by season’s end.
Sept. 7, 2025 (17-13): Purdy rolled right and lobbed a 4-yard touchdown pass that Jake Tonges miraculously snagged with 1 ½ minutes remaining. That capped Purdy’s 277-yard season debut that included a touchdown pass on the 95-yard opening drive to George Kittle, who was gone by halftime with a hamstring injury.
“It’s one of the hardest places to play when it comes to the environment and the fans,” Purdy said. “Every down matters. You have to be on point with everything – your communication, the operation. It all matters and all adds up.”
In four visits, he has thrown for eight touchdown passes against three interceptions.
“When you’re on top of it and can execute on the road, you can feel really good when you do your job at a high level,” Purdy added. “It’s a tough place to play but it’s worth it if you’re on top of your stuff.”
Three years ago in his playoff debut, Purdy supplied the go-ahead touchdown run in a wild-card home win over Seattle, but he didn’t stop there, as he threw his second and third touchdown passes of the game in the fourth quarter to secure the 41-23 win on Jan. 14, 2023.
“That’s just who he is, simple as that,” wide receiver Jauan Jennings said of Purdy’s big-game efforts.
Purdy is 5-2 all-time in the playoffs, and four of those wins required a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter. Or, in Sunday’s case, a pair of go-ahead drives, capped by his first-ever game-winning touchdown pass in playoff action (4 yards to Christian McCaffrey with 2:54 remaining in the 23-19 thriller.
“When it came down to the drives that mattered, in the fourth quarter, and the pressure of that moment, he was locked in and didn’t blink,” offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak said. “That’s kind of who he’s been his whole career.
“He’s had drives like that in the playoffs. Go back to ’23,” Kubiak said of NFC comeback wins over Green Bay and Detroit. “We’re going to need it on Saturday. He did it in Week 1. He’s played good football in that environment. That’s what it’s going to take to win.”
Purdy’s biggest bugaboo could be interceptions. He overcame two of them Sunday in Philadelphia. He’s had only one other of his 202 career playoff passes intercepted — in the 2023 season’s NFC Championship Game comeback win over the Detroit Lions.
The first half of this season, however, saw Purdy sidelined 8-of-10 games because of a turf-toe injury caused by a Julian Love tackle in that Week 1 visit to Seattle.
Less than two weeks after losing to the Seahawks at home and yielding the No. 1 seed, Purdy has a pretty good feel of what Seattle and coach Mike Macdonald might do in this rematch.
“I’ve played against him a couple times and the theme of it is to definitely be patient and find ways to stay on the field,” Purdy said. “You can call us underdogs but we just focus on ourselves.”