There has been a lot of back-and-forth chatter between the San Francisco 49ers, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the two teams' fans. The Eagles beat the 49ers in last season's NFC Championship Game. Of course, most will agree that it was an unfair matchup. Quarterback Brock Purdy suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow early in the game. His backup, Josh Johnson, exited with a concussion.
The injuries left the 49ers without a quarterback capable of throwing the football, making the offense one-dimensional and resulting in a 31-7 Eagles win.
Those in the 49ers locker room believe the outcome would have been very different had Purdy not been injured.
"[L]ooking back on the game, you just wish you had a fair shot," running back Christian McCaffrey said in February. "Obviously, we got beat and we didn't have a fair shot because of the plays that those guys made, and so props to them. But it's like fighting with one arm. You just feel like you had something ripped from you."
Wide receiver Deebo Samuel also believes that the 49ers had the best team in the NFL last season and that some better injury luck would have resulted in San Francisco beating the Eagles.
"Just look how well our defense was actually playing, keeping Jalen [Hurts] in the pocket, which he doesn't like to do at all," Samuel said during an interview. "So the [Eagles] offense wasn't doing anything. Our defense was doing what they were supposed to, and I feel like if Brock was in as our quarterback and how our offense moves, I don't think it would have been close."
The 49ers are looking forward to this season's rematch, which will occur on December 3 at Lincoln Financial Field. The team is motivated heading into the 2023 season.
"That loss from this past season to the Eagles, I feel like it's going to motivate us to come out strong, come out hard," cornerback Charvarius Ward, better known to coaches and teammates as "Mooney," recently told Fangirl Sports Network's Tracy Sandler. "I'm not trying to make a prediction, but maybe we get the number one overall seed and get home-field advantage, and we don't have to be playing in another team's stadium, which impacts the crowd noise. It can impact the offense calling plays, and guys might miss a block, some unlucky stuff that happened to us. So we'll come out strong this year, and I think we're going to do our thing."
Ward couldn't help but smile after being asked if he was excited about that Week 13 rematch.
"Yeah, I'm excited," Ward responded. "It's going to be lit because it's at their place. [There's] kind of been a lot of back and forth in between. Well, I don't know if it's been a lot, but I did see a little back and forth in between from us and them. But may the best man win. May the best man win come that day, and I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be fun. Competition always brings out the best in a man, so we going to see who the better team is that day."
