Is Brock Purdy’s Stellar Play Enough to Offset the 49ers’ Latest Injuries?

The San Francisco 49ers are 3-0 and leading the NFC West. They also might be running out of room on injured reserve.

Both things were true after a Week 3 win over the Cardinals that left the Rams two and a half games behind (they are 1-2 and already lost to the Niners) and the Seahawks a game back. Rich's question was the familiar one in that neck of the woods: how many players of note can this team lose?

The list grew in a hurry. Nick Bosa went down warming up in practice during the week. Mike Evans got carted off after taking one in the left chops. Trent Williams got carted off with a stinger. Going into the game, the 49ers figured they had all three. Coming out of it, they don't, for who knows how long. And Rich pointed out the roster squeeze that follows: if one of them is out for a month, the team is hesitant to use IR because it is running out of space to put players there.

"It's happening again," Rich said, before floating the least scientific solution in NFL history. He is not a conspiracy theorist, he insisted, and he is "more verbal than anything else," but maybe somebody should call up Santa Clara about that substation and put in some solar panels. "It's California."

The football itself was a blast. Kyle Shanahan was dialing it up. George Kittle had multiple receiving touchdowns for the ninth time in his career. Then came the hook and ladder, which turned into a stat Rich could barely believe. Deebo Samuel finished with 80 receiving yards and no catches, the most receiving yards on a single play without a catch since at least 1978. Kittle had 82 yards on six catches, so Samuel was two yards behind him without catching a pass.

When the research department stops at 1978, Rich joked, they are basically saying, "We've gone back far enough."

And then there is Brock Purdy, who, in the show's words, is out of his skull. He has nine passing touchdowns this season, tying Steve Young's 1998 start of nine in the first three games.

Rich already knows the pushback. The wins came against the Dolphins, a Cardinals team that couldn't do anything against Seattle, and a jetlagged Rams team. Fine. "If you believe that, next up are the Broncos coming in," Rich said. After that comes a trip to Seattle.

That is where Trent Williams matters most. Rich understands Bosa is out and Evans might not be back, and that is going to stink. But Williams is the one he wants. Rich noted the team has lost five in a row and 10 of its last 11 without him. "Got to get him back and keep pressing their advantage," Rich said.

The schedule math is tempting. If the 49ers get to 5-0 while the Rams play at Philadelphia and host the Bills, and Seattle hosts the Chargers and San Francisco, a win in Seattle would hand the Niners a massive head start just five weeks in.

Rich closed by weaving a tapestry, his words, like Carole King. JJ McCarthy is now officially on the Giants, and part of the reason he has a new home is that he didn't torch the Vikings on Instagram when things didn't go his way. Brandon Aiyuk did the opposite in San Francisco, and with Evans carted off, the Niners could use him. You could argue they don't need him, since Purdy keeps throwing touchdowns to his tight end and his fullback.

"You could sit here and say they don't need Aiyuk," Rich said, "but Aiyuk needs the Niners, and he totally blew that bridge up."