The 49ers were dealt a brutal hand Sunday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field.
San Francisco basically played the entire second half of the NFC Championship Game without a real quarterback, and that came after Kyle Shanahan's team was forced to turn to its fourth-string option. Rookie Brock Purdy injured his right elbow on the game's first series and was replaced by journeyman Josh Johnson, who actually was starting to find his groove a bit before he suffered a concussion on the 49ers' first drive of the third quarter.
Purdy re-entered the game after Johnson exited, but the 23-year-old's throwing arm was so compromised that he could barely toss the football beyond a few yards. All told, the visitors never stood a chance against the Philadelphia Eagles, who cruised to a 31-7 win.
Superstar tight end George Kittle didn't pull punches when asked after the game about San Francisco's troubling signal-caller situation.
"How does that feel to lose an NFC Championship Game 'cause I don't have a quarterback? Pretty (expletive), to be honest," Kittle told reporters, per a clip shared by 95.7 The Game. "Yeah, that's about it."
Quarterback figures to be a popular topic of conversation in the Bay Area as the 49ers enter their offseason. Purdy proved his worth across an eight-game win streak, but a 2021 first-round pick used on Trey Lance surely is an investment San Francisco wants to see through.
