The Detroit Lions have captured the attention of fans and media from across the country this week as they prepare for Sunday’s NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers (6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT, FOX), but the 49ers have their own underdog story that could end happily if they win.
The tale of quarterback Brock Purdy has been widely publicised since his surprise breakout last season, but it may be overshadowed this week by the fact that the Lions are playing in their first NFC Championship game since January 12, 1992, and second overall. The 49ers, on the other hand, will be making their NFL-record 19th appearance in the NFC Championship out of 54 games and are expected to go to their ninth Super Bowl on Sunday, so there isn’t much underdog appeal surrounding them as a club right now. However, Purdy will have the opportunity to do something improbable in his own right, which an elbow injury prevented him from doing last season.
Purdy, a seventh-round draft pick and the final player chosen in the 2022 NFL Draft, entered the lineup late in the 2022 regular season due to injuries to quarterbacks Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo, and unexpectedly led the 49ers to the NFC Championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles last season as a third-string rookie. But there was no happy ending for Purdy in that game, as he was sidelined with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, and the 49ers lost 31-7 to the Eagles.
Purdy went through an offseason of rehab and put together a great showing in 2023, earning him a front-runner status in MVP debates before a four-interception performance in a Christmas Day loss to the Baltimore Ravens dropped him to the middle of the pack. Purdy, who overcame an up-and-down performance last weekend to lead the 49ers on a game-winning drive in their 24-21 NFC Divisional Round victory over the Green Bay Packers, will get another chance on Sunday to go from being the last player selected in the draft to one of the starting quarterbacks in the Super Bowl.
Purdy isn’t obsessing on what occurred a year ago as this week’s game approaches, but it’s clear he’s eager to finish what he started last season.
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