Nearly three years since Brock Purdy left Lincoln Financial Field with his elbow obliterated and his Super Bowl dreams crushed, he found glory in the same setting.
Down in the fourth quarter after his second interception led to a go-ahead Philadelphia Eagles field goal, Purdy was unfazed and unflinching. The San Francisco 49ers QB was 5 of 7 for 42 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey, on the game-winning 66-yard march to lift San Francisco to a 23-19 triumph over the Eagles.
Not only did Purdy have to rally his squad from a deficit, but he also had to overcome a pair of interceptions that made a win all the more arduous.
"Brock had a couple mistakes, obviously, with his two picks and stuff, but to come back on that last drive and get us in the end zone, lead us all the way down there," Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan said of his quarterback's performance, "and get to like the third guy in his progression on the touchdown, real proud of the guys."
Had this been a storybook showing for Purdy in his playoff return to Philly, he would have put up some sterling statistics. Instead, this was a gutsy performance (18 of 31 for 262 yards, two touchdowns and two INTs) from the QB and the 49ers, emblematic of a season in which they've overcome a litany of injuries. They did so again Sunday when they lost tight end George Kittle to a torn Achilles.
"I think it shows how they've been all year," Shanahan said regarding what the victory said about his team. "They've been resilient all year. They've overcome a lot. They believe in each other a ton, and we knew we couldn't come in here and just win by certain guys making plays. We knew we had to come in here and win as a complete team, and I really believe we played as a complete team today and that's what we got it done."
When it got done, Purdy was at the controls. Both his interceptions were in the second half, but as has been accustomed with Purdy and his shooters-shoot mentality, he kept on slinging it.
"The game is still there to go take," he said. "I was just being real with myself and leaning into my faith and understanding that I've got to hold all this loosely, but try to go do God's will. And that's every drive. Same thing happened at the end of the game. We needed to go do it. I just kept my mind fresh and go play one play at a time, every play has a life of its own, and still have that attack mentality every single play. That's how I did it."
In the 49ers' 31-7 loss to the host Eagles in the 2022 season's NFC Championship Game, Purdy tore his UCL on San Francisco's first drive. He was already starting for an injured Jimmy Garoppolo and after Josh Johnson replaced Purdy and he too was injured, all was lost the 49ers.
Purdy wasn't the only 49er to throw a TD Sunday, as Jauan Jennings chucked one to McCaffrey, but Purdy's health wasn't the cause this time around.
Like just about every 49ers standout player this year, Purdy has battled through injury. He overcame two stints missing time due to a toe aliment this season.
After returning to the field in Week 11 in a 41-22 win over the Arizona Cardinals, Purdy had been playing some of the best ball of his career, leading the 49ers to six straight wins with 16 TD passes during that run. That was curtailed in Week 18's 13-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
In the ultimate drama that is the NFL, Purdy will move on from exorcising his Philadelphia demons to leading his 49ers into a Divisional Round matchup at the No. 1 Seattle Seahawks. San Francisco's loss in the regular-season finale sent the 49ers to the sixth seed and Philly, while Seattle earned a wild-card bye, the NFC West and nothing but home games for the postseason.
For a second playoff game in a row, Purdy has a shot to remedy a previous ill.
"There's been times in my career and growing up there's moments where it's like, man, you got to go win it here," Purdy said. "And in that moment, you can start thinking to yourself all the worst possible scenarios. So just learning from those kind of things so when there's a moment like this, it's like, no, there's a moment right there for you to go take. Being aggressive but being smart and playing one play at a time and obviously just believing in yourself."
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