49ers distraught and confused following crushing championship defeat

The San Francisco 49ers could have been heading into the Super Bowl this weekend, but the NFC Championship game against the Eagles this past Sunday couldn’t have gone any worse. The team lost not one but two of their quarterbacks, pushing the total of injured quarterbacks to four on the season. The injuries resulted in the Philadelphia Eagles crushing them. Now, San Francisco has many questions to answer and feelings of distraught to shake before next season. 

The year started poorly for the 49ers. Their young signal caller Trey Lance was supposed to be the next star of the franchise, as they had been shopping Jimmy Garoppolo all offseason. Lance suffered a season-ending injury two weeks in and pushed Garoppolo back into the starting job. He helped them rip off a few consecutive wins before suffering his season-ending injury. Then came Brock Purdy, the final pick in the recent draft pick, otherwise known as Mr Irrelevant. Purdy stepped in with incredible confidence, and the team rallied around it. He didn’t lose a single game in the regular season as the starter and won two playoff games. 

Expectations were high when they went up against the Eagles to advance into the Super Bowl with Purdy at the helm. Unfortunately, he was injured on the first drive of the game. It has since been reported that he suffered a complete tear in his UCL and will require surgery that can keep him out for the next six months. The injury threw off the entire game plan right from the start, throwing in the veteran Josh Johnson to take over. Johnson didn’t do that well, though it didn’t matter. Johnson later got struck and exited the game with what appeared to be a head injury. Christian McCaffrey was the only emergency quarterback left, but they didn’t want to head down that path. Instead, Purdy fought through his injury and just handed the ball off. Philly knew he couldn’t throw it, so they just committed hard to the run and shut down San Francisco.

It was a disappointing end to the year, and the 49ers players know they got screwed over by luck. Reporters asked George Kittle how he felt about the loss. He said, “How’s that feel to lose an NFC Championship game because I don’t have a quarterback? Pretty sh**** to be honest.” There’s no question that the rest of the team feels the same way, and it’s no blame on Purdy or Johnson. After all, they both got unlucky with their injuries in the game. The 49ers must get over it quickly and focus on next season, a year in which their quarterback situation will be in question.

It is guaranteed that Garoppolo will be out of the organisation next season, or at least that’s how it seems. He’s the older option of the guys they have, and they can get value from him in a trade. They won’t want to give up on Lance after just a few games after giving up a substantial amount of compensation for him in a draft-day trade. Then Purdy showed more than enough at least to keep himself in contention for the starting job. His health is a big concern in the offseason, but he proved that he belongs on the field. It’s not a great way to end the season if you’re the 49ers. Especially with a roster that could have easily found themselves in the Super Bowl had their quarterback remained in the game.