Last season, the San Francisco 49ers were favorites to reach the Super Bowl even when they had to play on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles during the NFC Championship Game.
However, Brock Purdy suffered an elbow injury and his backup, Josh Johnson, also had to leave the game after a concussion. In practical terms, the 49ers played with no quarterback as Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance weren’t ready to take the field.
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Now, in a shocking revelation, Kyle Shanahan confirmed the San Francisco 49ers had an incredible plan if they had to face Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the big game. The name is a future Hall of Famer.
Philip Rivers was ready to play the Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers
If the 49ers had won against the Philadelphia Eagles, Philip Rivers could have been the starter for San Francisco in the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs. This was confirmed during training camp by head coach Kyle Shanahan. The former quarterback of Chargers and Colts had officially retired in 2021.
“He was prepared to. Now that’s stuff we talked about throughout the whole year. We would’ve had to have seen how that was for the Super Bowl, but that was the plan most of the year.”
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However, in that scenario, the San Francisco 49ers might have been able to recover Jimmy Garoppolo as there were two weeks of rest before the Super Bowl. Nevertheless, without Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson, Philip Rivers could have gotten a shot to leave football with a championship.
