PHILADELPHIA – This 49ers’ season was certain to go down in franchise lore for its shuffling of injured quarterbacks and that harrowing theme outlined Sunday’s closing act within the NFC Championship Recreation.
Brock Purdy, the once-unbeaten rookie phenom, injured his throwing elbow on the 49ers’ opening possession of what turned a 31-7 catastrophe, the third-most lopsided defeat in 49ers playoff historical past. It was so unhealthy that when backup quarterback Josh Johnson exited with a concussion shortly after halftime, Purdy needed to re-enter the sport, however he was in an excessive amount of ache to aim greater than two quick passes in a fruitless comeback.
“That opening drive, we misplaced our final quarterback,” coach Kyle Shanahan stated. “We have been impressed watching our protection. We felt, down two scores, we might run and generate sufficient on offense and possibly get a turnover.”
The 49ers didn’t simply run out of quarterbacks. Their protection was off-kilter, permitting 4 landing runs and stacking up penalties within the unfriendly confines of Lincoln Monetary Area.
Alas, the 49ers misplaced within the NFC Championship Recreation for a second straight season. Not like final yr’s defeat in Los Angeles that got here all the way down to a fourth-quarter collapse, this one regarded doomed from the beginning and can solid fairly a darkish cloud for the offseason.
Purdy will endure an MRI on Monday to find out what occurred to his proper forearm, which swelled up and nonetheless pained him when he met the media after the sport. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday evening, citing unnamed sources, that the crew believes Purdy injured his ulnar collateral ligament.
“My arm simply felt prefer it stretched out, simply felt like numerous shocks throughout, from my elbow all the way down to my wrist, back and front. Simply ache, actually, throughout,” Purdy stated.
So, now what?
That protection, presuming NFL sack king Nick Bosa indicators a report extension, probably will rebound subsequent season below a brand new coordinator. DeMeco Ryans is predicted to go away for a head-coaching gig with the Houston Texans if not the Denver Broncos.
The 49ers’ offense will return with heavy questions at quarterback, an annual storyline as their Lombardi Trophy drought has hit the 28-year mark. These questions: Will Purdy’s elbow require important surgical procedure? Will Trey Lance absolutely recuperate from two procedures on his proper ankle? Will Jimmy Garoppolo certainly search asylum elsewhere or are these aforementioned well being points sufficient to benefit yet one more encore?
Nicely, to shortly recap a season that featured 15 wins and a deadly fifth loss:
*Lance, the 49ers’ 2021 prime draft choose, broke his proper ankle within the dwelling opener, and he had follow-up surgical procedure solely a month in the past.
*Garoppolo, banished to a facet area throughout his coaching camp limbo, revived his just-win-baby inventory till a Dec. 4 fracture to his left foot.
*Purdy, the 262nd and ultimate choose because the draft’s “Mr. Irrelevant,” produced eight wins and wanted only one extra to change into the primary rookie to make the Tremendous Bowl.
*Johnson, 36, regarded each bit the veteran journeyman as he struggled in emergency responsibility earlier than being concussed by a Ndamukong Suh hit solely 2 ½ minutes after halftime.
That’s when the 49ers discovered themselves down 14 factors and 4 quarterbacks, at the very least till Purdy was thrust again into the sport in what everybody anticipated can be a comeback try constructed round run makes an attempt and quick throws.
“He didn’t foyer a lot (to return) as a result of he saved throwing (on the sideline) and realized he couldn’t,” Shanahan stated.
Throughout the replay evaluation that dominated a fumble slightly than an incompletion on his fateful play, Purdy requested for a soccer to throw on the sideline, to which he stated: “Even on these couple of throws, I used to be, ‘Man, this isn't proper.’ … I instructed (Shanahan) proper there: ‘If we run a play, I can’t throw deep. For this play, it was hurting actually unhealthy, and if we have been going to get a completion, it needed to be one thing quick, if that’s all proper.’ ”
The vociferous crowd was not as a lot a deciding issue as Eagles sack chief Hasson Reddick. On Purdy’s sixth snap, his arm was bent by Reddick whereas trying a move from midfield. Riddick had overwhelmed Tyler Kroft’s block and blown up a play on which Purdy tried hitting Brandon Aiyuk for an enormous achieve.
Purdy was charged along with his first profession fumble, however dropping the ball was secondary to the 49ers dropping their hot-shot quarterback to an harm.
“It positively places a damper on issues,” Bosa stated. “However we’ve been by way of it a number of instances this yr and had numerous hope and prevailed (up to now). … It was powerful, positively not the way you draw it up.”
With 5 minutes to go, the 49ers deployed working again Christian McCaffrey at quarterback for a trick play that resulted in a innocent incompletion with no 49ers within the neighborhood and encapsulated the struggles of the day.
The Eagles constructed a 21-7 halftime lead with a trio of landing runs, giving them the kind of cushion that paved their strategy to an 8-0 begin to the season and finally the NFC’s No. 1 seed with home-field benefit.
Coincidentally, the one different time these groups met within the playoffs, the 49ers’ beginning quarterback received harm to torpedo their championship aspirations. That was Steve Younger, who broke his ribs in a 14-0 wild-card win over the visiting Eagles in 1996. The harm compelled Younger to make a fast exit within the 49ers’ ensuing loss at Inexperienced Bay.
Earlier than Johnson was despatched off with a concussion, his reduction look wasn’t fairly. It included three delay-of-game calls, two sacks, and a fumbled shotgun snap, the latter coming between two Eagles touchdowns within the ultimate 96 seconds earlier than halftime that broke open a tied recreation. He was 7-of-13 for 74 yards, in solely his third look this season, having performed 22 snaps in mop-up appearances in opposition to Tampa Bay and Arizona.
“I don’t suppose we have been numb,” Shanahan stated. “Guys have been as much as the problem. We thought Josh would go in, execute our plan and provides us an opportunity.”
It was McCaffrey who pulled the 49ers right into a 7-7 tie, with No. 23 pounding his means 23 yards and breaking 4 tackles for a landing 8:29 earlier than halftime. That capped a six-play drive which noticed him make a pair of 9-yard catches, together with a short-yardage conversion run.
The 49ers staked the Eagles to a 7-0 lead by permitting a landing drive on the sport’s opening collection. Miles Sanders scored untouched on a 2-yard run previous Javon Kinlaw and Jordan Willis, and that got here two performs after the Eagles transformed on fourth-and-3 with DeVonta Smith’s 29-yard, one-handed catch down the left sideline in opposition to Jimmie Ward.
A replay confirmed that Smith didn’t make a clear catch, however Shanahan stated the replay he noticed on the stadium’s video board satisfied him there wasn’t purpose to problem and danger dropping a timeout.
Think about that the primary sign the 49ers wouldn't be heading to their eighth Tremendous Bowl, having misplaced their previous two appearances, within the 2019 season to the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and 10 years in the past to the Baltimore Ravens.
Bosa, who didn’t register a sack within the playoffs, had his personal enlightening second early within the recreation when an Eagles participant crashed into him on the sideline on punt protection. “That was type of an indication of a tough day, while you get harm on the sideline,” Bosa stated. “I received a cleat an inch or two into my leg. That harm.”
Frustrations boiled over within the closing minutes, within the type of left deal with Trent Williams’ ejection for body-slamming Eagles security Ok’Von Wallace after a play.
Thus, the 49ers fell to 2-6 in convention championship video games on the highway, and this was their most lopsided defeat, bearing little resemblance to final season’s 20-17 exit in Los Angeles.
In repeating a reporter’s query and increasing on it, tight finish George Kittle stated: “How does it really feel to lose the NFC Championship Recreation as a result of I don’t have a quarterback? Fairly (terrible), to be sincere.”