Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers certainly will look back on the conclusion to their 2022 season with a what-could-have-been mindset.
The 49ers on Sunday saw two quarterbacks suffer injuries, and it's fair to think it halted any chance San Francisco had of advancing to Super Bowl LVII. The top-seeded Philadelphia Eagles earned a 31-7 victory in Sunday's NFC Championship Game at Lincoln Financial Field, scoring the final 24 points of the game.
Shanahan, as one might imagine, was extremely disappointed with how those injuries played such a crucial role in a season-ending defeat.
"I mean, losing is awful," Shanahan told reporters when asked where Sunday's postseason loss ranks among his career worst, per the team. "This one was harder. This one was harder. This one was a lot harder, I thought."
Brock Purdy suffered an elbow injury on the first offensive series. He was replaced by veteran journeyman Josh Johnson, who suffered a concussion on San Francisco's first possession of the second half. Purdy then returned, though clearly was impacted by the injury to his throwing elbow. Despite trailing by three possessions, the 49ers ran the ball play after play due to the injury-plagued quarterback.
"Guys are pretty down in there," Shanahan said. "We were really excited for today and we really wanted an opportunity to play that team. And they played great, they did good things, but we wish we had a little bit better opportunity than we did today."
He added: "I mean, there's not much to say right now and it was kind of tough to talk in there right after the game for everybody. Thought they got dealt a pretty tough card today, tough hand. I just hurt for those guys."
The 49ers now head into the offseason while the Eagles advance to Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium.
