49ers’ Brock Purdy Sounds off on NFC Championship Chance: ‘Drooling’

Getty 49ers Brock Purdy

There was some relief that the San Francisco 49ers were able to hold off a very game and upset-minded Packers team on Saturday, one that had already shocked the NFL world by beating the Cowboys to start the postseason. The 49ers are on to the NFC Championship game, and while it took some good fortune and late execution to get there, the sense of relief from quarterback Brock Purdy runs a little deeper.

It was the injury to Purdy’s elbow early in last year’s playoff opener against the Eagles that derailed the 49ers season back then. Purdy was thrilled to be able to take the field, play the whole game and come away with a win on Saturday, the first playoff win of his young career.

After the game, Purdy told SI.com’s Albert Breer that the 49ers’ excitement was at an all-time high.

“Last year happened,” Purdy says. “It sucked. We all thought we had a team to go all the way and do it. We didn’t get an opportunity to. Now, we’re back. It’s been a quick year. We’re all excited for this opportunity. We weren’t trying to think too far in the future. We knew, Green Bay coming in, it was going to be a good game. To be able to pull through at the end like that was huge. Now for us to now focus on the NFC championship.

“We’re all drooling over this opportunity.”

49ers Brock Purdy Struggled With Weather

Purdy was not stellar in the win over the Packers, struggling at times with a ball that was wet with rain. He completed 23 of his 39 passes for 252 yards, though, and logged a passer rating of 86.7, which was tied for the fourth-lowest rating he has recorded this season.

His opposing quarterback, Jordan Love of the Packers, also struggled with accuracy in the rain, completing 21 of 34 attempts, throwing two interceptions and putting up a 72.4 rating.

Purdy attempted to battle the rain by wearing a glove on the opening drive but ditched after the 49ers punted.

“Early on, obviously, I put on the glove for the first drive,” Purdy said in his postgame press conference. “It was coming down, and then it sprinkled, so I took it off. So I was still trying to sort of figure out what I wanted to do, and I was sort of fed up with the glove, so I just obviously was throwing like I normally do.”

On to the Detroit Lions

Next up is the Lions, and Detroit will have the same upset ambitions as the Packers did, but it is clear that the 49ers will have to play better to win that game and punch their ticket to the Super Bowl. The 49ers are against favored by a touchdown.

And the good news for Purdy is that there is not expected to be rain in the forecast. That will help. Also on a positive note, the 49ers finally threw off the inability to win when trailing. They were behind by seven points in the fourth quarter on Saturday. Kyle Shanahan’s teams had been 0-30 in those situations.

Getting the win bolstered the team’s confidence should the situation arise against the Lions.

“We have too many good guys, too many good players and too good of a team chemistry to not be able to pull through,” Purdy told Breer.