Philip Rivers Was Virtually a San Francisco 49er Final Season

Taking part in in Philadelphia in opposition to the Eagles for an opportunity to go to the Tremendous Bowl, the San Francisco 49ers have been compelled to show to 37-year-old journeyman Josh Johnson at quarterback after starter Brock Purdy exited with an elbow harm. That Purdy was even the starter was considerably of a joke because the 49ers traded up within the draft to pick out Trey Lance in 2021 and in addition labored out a deal to maintain Jimmy Garoppolo on the town final summer season regardless that the workforce clearly didn’t view him as a part of the longer term in San Fran. Neither Lance nor Garoppolo have been wholesome when the NFC Championship Sport kicked off, and neither Purdy nor Johnson, who suffered a concussion, have been wholesome when it ended.

Given San Francisco’s quarterback state of affairs within the NFC Championship, it’s no shock that they misplaced the sport by a big margin and allowed the Eagles to advance. However, had they one way or the other been capable of defeat Philadelphia — and members of the 49ers assume they need to have — San Francisco would have wanted a quarterback for Tremendous Bowl LVII in opposition to the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and Pat Mahomes. In keeping with Niners coach Kyle Shanahan, that QB would have been Philip Rivers.

“He was ready to,” Shanahan stated. “Now that’s stuff we talked about all through the entire yr. We’d’ve needed to have seen how that was for the Tremendous Bowl, however that was the plan a lot of the yr.”

Rivers, who retired after enjoying the 2020 season in Indianapolis with the Colts, performed 16 of his 17 NFL seasons for the Chargers. When he retired in January of 2021 to educate highschool soccer and assist his spouse handle their 9 youngsters, 41-year-old Rivers had an all-time report of 134-106, a profession completion fee of practically 65% and was ranked No. 5 in profession completions (5,277), No. 5 in passing yards (63,440) and No. 5 in passing touchdowns (421).

None of these statistics have been accrued in a Tremendous Bowl as Rivers was by no means capable of advance additional than a convention championship recreation regardless of enjoying on some Charger groups that have been loaded with expertise. Primarily based on what Rivers stated through the summer season after his retirement, he most likely would have picked up the telephone if the Niners had come calling.

“I’m simply going to remain prepared,” Rivers advised The Los Angeles Times in 2021. “I wish to make sure that I’m very clear: I’m not predicting I’ll play in December or January, for that matter. One, you’ve acquired to have any individual who desires you, and two, it’s acquired to be proper. However I’ve not fully dominated that out.”

Sadly for Rivers, San Francisco’s mismanagement of the quarterback place prevented the workforce from needing one within the Tremendous Bowl as a result of they misplaced the spherical earlier than.