There’s no question the San Francisco 49ers will look back on Sunday’s game with plenty of disappointment and thoughts of what could have been. They had both of their two quarterbacks suffer injuries during the contest, after all.
And it was one of the many reasons why the Philadelphia Eagles took a three-possession lead into the fourth quarter.
Starting signal-caller Brock Purdy suffered an elbow injury on San Francisco’s first offensive possession. He did not play the rest of the first half as fourth-stringer Josh Johnson took over in his place. However, on the opening possession of the second half, Johnson also suffered an injury and ultimately was ruled out with a concussion. Purdy returned to the field for the 49ers, and despite a three-possession deficit, he handed the ball off play after play. Those decisions from head coach Kyle Shanahan were clearly injury-related.
Add in the fact the 49ers already had quarterbacks Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo in sweatpants and sweatshirts due to early-season injuries, and NFL fans couldn’t help but feel for the Niners. The word “cursed” was a popular phrase on Twitter.
The Eagles took a 28-7 lead into the fourth quarter, and they can thank the 49ers’ brutal luck at the most important position for playing a role. Unfortunately, a promising season and NFC title matchup were impacted by it.
