The NFC Championship Game was a huge disappointment for the San Francisco 49ers, as injuries to Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson left them with no healthy quarterback for most of the contest.
As a result, they got routed by the Philadelphia Eagles, putting a stop to what was looking like a possible Cinderella run.
When Trey Lance, one of San Francisco’s four injured QBs, was asked who he thinks will win the Super Bowl, he said, without any hesitation, the Kansas City Chiefs.
“It would’ve been nice to see a real game.”#FTTB @treylance09 did not stutter when he made his Super Bowl prediction:#NFL #SBLVII #ChiefsKingdom #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/hH8NRMdovd
—Rich EisenShow (@RichEisenShow) February 8, 2023
Although Lance said he wasn’t bitter by how the season turned out, he did throw a bit of shade at the Eagles by saying “It would’ve been nice to see a real game” in regards to the NFC title game.
Going into that contest, the 49ers had won 12 games in a row, and after Lance had suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2 and Jimmy Garoppolo went down in Week 13 with a serious foot injury, Purdy has filled in extremely well and was starting to look like their next franchise QB.
It almost looked like a serendipitous development for San Francisco and that perhaps it was headed toward a truly remarkable championship run with a rookie signal-caller who had been the last player chosen in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Instead, the Eagles will be playing Patrick Mahomes and crew for the world championship on Sunday.
As far as the 49ers are concerned, Purdy is set to have surgery on his injured elbow, and he is expected to be ready for training camp this summer.
#49ers QB Brock Purdy will meet with Dr. Keith Meister in Dallas on Feb. 21 and plans to have surgery to repair his UCL torn on the 22nd, sources say. The surgery, set to be done by the respected #Rangers doc, will allow Purdy to make a full recovery & be ready for training camp. pic.twitter.com/9ahMWbqPD1
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 8, 2023
One would think it would mean Purdy would be the starter next season, but perhaps there is a scenario where Lance would be under center instead in 2023.
