ClutchPoints
San Francisco 49ers fans remember the dreadful 2023 NFL playoffs. After a magical season where Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy rose to the top of the QB food chain, San Francisco was ready to take on the entire world. Instead, though, their NFC Championship Game became a bloodbath for their quarterback room.
Against the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2023 NFC Championship Game, Purdy suffered an injury that took him out of the game. With Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance both out for the year, the 49ers relied on Josh Johnson. In a saddening turn of events, though, Johnson was also knocked out of the game. The 49ers were forced to send an injured Purdy back on the field, costing them the game.
Had the 49ers pulled off the improbable, who would’ve thrown for them in the Super Bowl? Well, Kyle Shanahan revealed who the 49ers’ quarterback would have been in that Super Bowl: none other than the great Philip Rivers.
“If the Niners had beaten the Eagles to advance to the Super Bowl that year, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan admitted this week that Rivers would have been their quarterback against the Chiefs,” Ryan Hockensmith wrote for ESPN. “‘He was always in there, but no one really knew,’ Shanahan said. ‘He was always ready if the moment happened.'”
The 49ers ended up losing to the Eagles in the 2023 NFC Championship Game. Purdy’s injury was a UCL injury, but he came back in the 2023 regular season and led San Francisco all the way to the Super Bowl.
Rivers, on the other hand, would make his NFL comeback years later with the Indianapolis Colts. The 44-year-old quarterback made a triumphant return to the field last week against the Seattle Seahawks. Now, Rivers will take on the team he was supposed to play for a few years ago.
The post 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan details just how close Philip Rivers return was in 2023 playoffs appeared first on ClutchPoints.
