ORLANDO, Fla. — Super Bowl-winning coach Andy Reid has the quarterback generally regarded as the best in the game.
He emerged from Super Bowl LVIII with an appreciation for the 49ers quarterback, too.
Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Patrick Mahomes threw for 333 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Kansas City Chiefs to a 25-22 overtime victory over the 49ers on Feb. 11 in Las Vegas.
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Meanwhile, Brock Purdy could have been in line for the MVP if San Francisco had held on after scoring a field goal on the first possession of overtime.
“Yeah, I have a lot of respect for Brock,” Reid said Monday at the NFL Annual Meeting. “He does a nice job. I really don’t care where he got drafted, right? It doesn’t matter to me.”
Purdy was the 262nd and final pick in the 2023 NFL Draft from Iowa State. He won the 49ers' starting job with his performances at the end of his rookie season.
With Purdy entrenched as the starter, San Francisco traded Trey Lance to the Dallas Cowboys last summer. Lance was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
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In his first full season as the starter, Purdy finished fourth in the league MVP voting. He led the NFL with a 113.0 passer rating and set the 49ers’ franchise record with 4,280 yards passing. Purdy led the league with a 9.6-yard average per pass attempt.
“He’s just a good player,” Reid said of Purdy. “He sees the field. He’s got good accuracy, great timing with his receivers, and he’s calm. You feel like he has everything kind of under control.”
Purdy had a solid game in Super Bowl LVIII, completing 23 of 38 pass attempts for 255 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
San Francisco became the first team in NFL history to take the lead twice in the fourth quarter and once in overtime and still lose.
The 49ers drove 66 yards for the go-ahead field goal to open the overtime period. Then, Kansas City took over. Mahomes threw a 3-yard, game-winning touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman to cap a 13-play, 75-yard drive for the Chiefs' third Super Bowl title in the past five seasons.
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