49ers' Brock Purdy could have buckled vs. Seahawks. Instead, he found Mike Evans

SEATTLE -- Brock Purdy's third-quarter interception Sunday put both the San Francisco 49ers' chances for a win and his MVP bid on shaky ground.

The interception, on which Seattle Seahawks cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett seemed to bait Purdy into the throw, was the quarterback's fourth in his last three trips to Seattle. The Seahawks quickly converted the takeaway into a 16-yard Jaxon Smith-Njigba touchdown for their first lead of the day, and they and their rowdy fans smelled blood.

It was the sort of prototypical Seattle moment -- full of chaos, cacophony and momentum -- that usually overwhelms opponents.

This time, however, Purdy didn't buckle. He found Mike Evans.

Purdy and the veteran receiver, who was still dealing with the effects of a broken rib suffered two weeks ago, connected five times on a 12-play touchdown drive that bridged the third and fourth quarters and took back the lead for the 49ers.

It was almost as if the two were playing a high-stakes game of pitch and catch. Seventy-five of Evans' 113 receiving yards came on that possession, and he also caught a 2-point conversion that stretched the lead to three points.

Asked about Evans after the game, Fred Warner acted like a teenager swept up in Beatlemania.

"Just aura -- walking aura," he gushed. "I can't help it. I'm on the sideline watching crazy stuff."

The Evans-heavy drive began on San Francisco's 26-yard line and included three 49ers penalties -- two on receiver Brandin Cooks (one declined) and an intentional grounding call on Purdy. Big throws to Evans helped overcome all of them, including a second-and-21 scenario when Purdy lofted a back-shoulder bomb to Evans for 28 yards.

"In that situation -- being way behind the chains -- I was like, 'Here's our one-on-one shot. We've got to capitalize on it,'" Purdy said. "For me, I just gave him a chance -- threw it up back shoulder, and he made the rest happen."

It certainly didn't hurt that the 6-foot-5 Evans was matched against 5-11 cornerback Josh Jobe on each of his catches on the drive, which Purdy capped with a 7-yard touchdown to Cooks. Jobe, who declined to speak to reporters after the game, also committed a pass interference penalty against Evans on San Francisco's initial 2-point try. On the next snap, Purdy went back to Evans, and the 49ers never trailed again, hanging on for a 32-29 victory.

"We all know what he's been playing through," center Jake Brendel said of Evans' rib issue. "The immense pain that he has every single play. He still goes out there and does his very best to get a completion for us. It's fantastic. It's awesome."

Purdy's 92.5 passer rating was his lowest of the season. In fact, it was the first time it fell below 100 this season.

Still, it was perhaps his most impressive outing given what he was up against. The first was the Seahawks defense, which forced two takeaways, sacked Purdy three times -- after he wasn't sacked at all through four games -- and whipped the crowd to its usual deafening levels.

The second was a limited collection of playmakers. Kyle Juszczyk, one of Purdy's favorite targets on scramble drills, missed the contest with a knee injury. Another target, tight end George Kittle, came down with flu-like symptoms Saturday night.

"He felt like s-- today, but did a helluva job getting out there and getting ready for the game and helping us win," coach Kyle Shanahan said.

Purdy also lost yet another wide receiver when, on the drive following his interception, Deebo Samuel dropped to the turf with a hamstring injury, losing the ball along the way (the turnover set up a Seahawks field goal that extended the lead to five). That left Evans as the only wide receiver who wasn't young and untested or recently arrived.

It turns out he was enough.

Purdy said he kept an eye out for situations in which Evans was matched with single coverage, and the Seahawks obliged on the biggest drive of the game. What's more unusual is that the quarterback also looked Evans' way when he was double-covered.

Purdy admitted he's had to readjust his programming with Evans on the roster. Usually, if a target is doubled, he automatically moves onto the next option. Evans, however, is so powerful and trustworthy when the ball is in the air that the quarterback has learned to fight his instincts and give him a chance.

"There are times when he's doubled and he still wins," Purdy said. "And that's a credit to how crazy of a player he is."

The win puts the 49ers at 5-0 for the first time since 2023, the most recent season they went to the Super Bowl. And it gives them a two-game lead on the Seahawks (3-2) in the NFC West, with the Los Angeles Rams (2-2) hosting the Buffalo Bills on Monday night.

After January's lopsided playoff loss in Seattle, the 49ers took solace in the grit they showed during the 2025 season despite being hit by an avalanche of injuries. This year's squad seems to have the same sort of fight and, though certainly not healthy, is better equipped than last season's team.

"Those guys grind," Shanahan said. "They're not looking for stats. They're not looking to get the praise. Those guys just want to win, and they wanted to win today big, and they deserved it."

Finally, the win keeps Purdy among the MVP favorites. A loss in Seattle would have been a prominent blemish in his candidacy, and the refrain that Purdy is good against ho-hum defenses but can't beat the Mike Macdonald-led unit would likely have echoed from coast to coast.

After stopping Purdy on a third-and-long scramble Sunday, Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon flashed a "too small" gesture at Purdy, which is one of the common criticisms of the 49ers quarterback.

Purdy didn't see it, and he didn't care.

"Absolutely not, no," he said when asked if that sort of thing angers or motivates him. "You've just got to keep playing. It's a four-quarter game. You've got to find a way to win."

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.