The San Francisco 49ers are on a six-game roll after defeating Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-7 on Sunday afternoon. The victory was a true "team win" with all three phases contributing to a historic performance. Rookie Brock Purdy became the first quarterback to make his first-career start against Brady and come away with a win. In that career-first start, Purdy was impressive connecting on 16-of-21 pass attempts for 185 yards and two touchdowns. He also added a two-yard rushing touchdown of his own to earn a 134.0 passer rating.
"I'm proud of this dude (Purdy)," linebacker Fred Warner said in a postgame locker room speech. "That's a big team win right there. I am proud as hell of everybody in this huddle right now. This is a fun group to be a part of. Keep winning, keep being hard on ourselves, watch the tape hard and keep getting better. It's 1-0 every week."
On the other side of the ball, the defensive unit also delivered, putting together a first half shutout and producing three takeaways. Brady had just three interceptions headed into Week 14's matchup and nearly doubled his count in one game. Linebacker Dre Greenlaw and safety Tashaun Gipson Sr. each picked Brady off, and linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair came up with a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter. Collectively, the defense was able to contain the Buccaneers ground game to just 69 yards. Their performance, like that of Purdy, was also a historic one, marking the first time that a team with the No. 1 total and scoring defenses has defeated Brady past the Week 5 mark.
With the win, the team improves to 9-4 on the year and further solidifies itself as the division leader. Up next for San Francisco is a second meeting with the Seattle Seahawks on "Thursday Night Football."
Here are San Francisco's top performers from Week 14:
Top Offensive Performers: Trent Williams and Jordan Mason
The 49ers All-Pro left tackle made PFF's "top offensive performers" list for a fourth-straight week, topping all of San Francisco's offensive players in Week 14. Williams earned an 81.8 overall grade for his 58 snaps of work. He also owns the best individual run-blocking grade (86.2) and second best pass-blocking (80.3) grades on the team.
Rookie running back Jordan Mason continues to see his workload increase and has answered the call each time. His 11 carries for 56 yards against Tampa Bay earned him a 79.4 overall grade. He also walked away with an 80.3 run grade, the top mark for rushing on San Francisco's offense.
Top Defensive Performers: Azeez Al-Shaair and Dre Greenlaw
Linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair earned the highest mark on defense with a 90.0 overall grade for his 11 snaps of work. His highlight of the game was a fumble recovery of a ball knocked loose by defensive back Jimmie Ward in the fourth quarter.
Greenlaw, a fellow linebacker, received the second highest defensive mark for the 49ers, earning an 83.9 overall grade for his 71 snaps. This week's grade is second only to that of his Week 3 mark (84.4), and it should come as no surprise given his outing. He matched a career-high 15 tackles versus Tampa Bay and notched his first interception of 2022.
"Fred Warner gets all the love in the 49ers linebacking corps, and deservedly so, but Dre Greenlaw was the star on Sunday," PFF staff wrote in their game recap. "Greenlaw earned a 90.5 grade on first review, which would be the second-highest of his four-year career. He picked off Brady in the third quarter and allowed a 5.7 passer rating when targeted."
VOTE
Pro Bowl voting for the 2022-23 season is open. Be sure to cast your votes daily for your favorite 49ers players here.
