The San Francisco 49ers suffered an abnormal amount of injuries during the 2022 season at the quarterback position. Their starter heading into the season, Trey Lance, suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the second quarter of their Week 2 matchup.

Veteran Jimmy Garoppolo relieved him and helped keep the team afloat. But, he suffered what ended up being a season-ending injury as well to his foot in Week 13. Mr. Irrelevant in the 2023 NFL Draft, Brock Purdy out of Iowa State, was then thrust into the starting lineup.

He shocked everyone with his performance, as the 49ers kept their winning streak going for months. The 49ers would not lose a game Purdy started, including the postseason, until the NFC Championship Game.

Purdy suffered an elbow injury early in the game, which forced him to the sidelines. He had to come back onto the field once his backup, Josh Johnson, suffered a concussion and was knocked out of the game himself.

With a compromised Purdy under center, the 49ers’ offense was unable to get anything going. The Philadelphia Eagles won the game handily, 31-7 to advance to the Super Bowl. Had the 49ers been able to pull the victory out despite the quarterback injuries, they had a plan for the big game.

49ers’ head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed that Philip Rivers would have been signed to play in the game for San Francisco. The two were in contact throughout the season and Shanahan said, “He was prepared to.”

That would have been an all-time moment in NFL history had Rivers been signed following the NFCCG and joined the 49ers for the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs. That kind of move would be unprecedented, having a quarterback who was a member of the team for only two weeks starting in the biggest game of the season.

But, that was the predicament that the 49ers were in. Down to what would have been their fifth-string quarterback, they had to get creative to fill the void. It would have been quite a scene as Rivers has been retired since the 2020 season.