After what appeared to be a dream season, Sunday’s NFC title game unfolded like a complete disaster for the San Francisco 49ers. Kyle Shanahan’s bunch looked forward to pushing the Philadelphia Eagles, but an early Brock Purdy “new Tom Brady” fumble changed the entire complexion of this final-four matchup. Because not only did Purdy lose possession, he suffered an elbow injury that appeared to limit his ability to throw the ball.
Have no fear! There was fourth-stringer Josh Johnson! Oh wait, he would also get knocked out of the game. Uh, so … what options did the 49ers have at quarterback, as both Purdy and Johnson seemed incapable of playing?
Why none other than the monstrous tailback Christian McCaffrey (seriously). The 49ers confirmed this possibility when Johnson’s ailment had the 49ers’ staff give McCaffrey a special helmet that could hear the offensive play calls:
Josh Johnson left the game after going down on the previous play. Christian McCaffrey is the emergency QB, and switched his helmet out so he could have one that is capable of hearing play calls.
Brock Purdy ended up returning for one play at QB: A handoff to the RB. pic.twitter.com/K5OL5RlLfo
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 29, 2023
Even while they prepped for McCaffrey to take snaps at QB, it seemed the 49ers wanted to avoid this worst-case scenario. A limited Purdy would come back in to take snaps, putting the runner back on ice.
Nevertheless, folks were over the moon at the possibility of a running back in McCaffrey potentially going under center in a conference championship game.