49ers season recap: Purdy good play gets team back in Super Bowl

Helpless.

That was the how the San Francisco 49ers felt at the end of last season.

They made it back to the NFC title game after losing the previous year to the Los Angeles Rams, and after losing the Super Bowl the year before that to the Kansas City Chiefs.

It once again wasn’t their time. Quarterback Brock Purdy suffered an elbow injury during the 49ers’ first drive. Backup Josh Johnson sustained a concussion in the third quarter, and San Francisco lost 31-7 to the Philadelphia Eagles.

“How’s that feel to lose the NFC championship game because I don’t have a quarterback?” tight end George Kittle said. “Pretty (expletive), to be honest. Yeah, that’s about it.”

It turns out, redemption arrived one year later.

Purdy stayed healthy to lead the 49ers to a 34-31 victory over the Detroit Lions in last week’s NFC title game. All that’s left for San Francisco to do now is avenge its Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs in the rematch at Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 11.

“Guys care about each other in this locker room and what we’ve been through,” Purdy said. “I’m real proud of this group.”

Stacked squad

It’s no surprise the 49ers ran roughshod over most of the NFC this season.

General manager John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have built a roster littered with stars. Pass rusher Nick Bosa, the 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and linebackers Dre Greenlaw and Fred Warner lead the NFL’s third-ranked scoring defense.

Kittle, running back Christian McCaffrey, wide receiver Deebo Samuel and left tackle Trent Williams are the linchpins of the league’s third-best offense.

Shanahan, considered one of the NFL’s best play designers, calls the shots. Purdy is the one tasked with going out and executing.

The 24-year-old was a bit of a lightning rod this season, less than two years removed from being the final pick in the 2022 NFL draft. Some saw Purdy’s gaudy statistics — he was fourth in completion percentage, third in passing touchdowns and first in passer rating among quarterbacks with at least five starts — as signs of an MVP candidate.

Others debated his importance based on all the talent around him. McCaffrey, Kittle, Williams and fullback Kyle Juszczyk were first-team All Pro selections by The Associated Press. Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk was on the second team.

It’s hard to place Purdy in the pecking order, even without Shanahan — who has led five top-10 offenses as a head coach or offensive coordinator — in the mix.

“I don’t have enough good things to say about Brock,” McCaffrey said. “All he’s done since he’s been here is play at an elite level. Everything starts with him. We’re lucky he’s our quarterback. He takes a lot of heat for absolutely no reason. All he has done has been a great leader and been a great player.”

Playoff journey

Purdy got a chance to answer some of the critics in the playoffs.

San Francisco rolled through the regular season with a 12-5 record and earned the NFC’s No. 1 seed. Even that doesn’t quite capture the team’s dominance. Two of those losses came with Samuel and Williams injured. Most key starters sat out a Week 18 loss to the Rams.

The 49ers’ backs were against the wall multiple times this postseason, however.

The Green Bay Packers led 21-14 in the divisional round entering the fourth quarter. San Francisco cut into its deficit with a field goal, then Purdy led a 12-play touchdown drive to take the lead with 1:07 remaining in a 24-21 victory.

The 49ers pulled off an even more impressive comeback one week later against the Lions.

Detroit led 24-7 at halftime and seemed well on its way to the first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. Purdy proceeded to crush those dreams by helping San Francisco score 27 straight points. It took a couple fortuitous bounces — Aiyuk turned a near interception into a 51-yard catch and Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs fumbled on the next possession — but the 49ers got the job done.

All that’s left to do is get one more win.

The franchise’s last championship came in 1995. Shanahan, Lynch, Kittle, Juszczyk, Samuel, Bosa, Greenlaw and Warner remain from the team that lost to the Chiefs in Super Bowl 54.

The 49ers led 20-10 entering the fourth quarter of that game before Kansas City scored 21 straight points to take the title.

San Francisco got over the heartbreak of last season to make the Super Bowl again this year. The 49ers can erase a different kind of pain with another victory.

“We have been trying really hard to get back to this moment,” Shanahan said. “We have been close a number of times. This time we got it done.”

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on X.