One or two plays. That was the difference in Super Bowl 58 between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. It was a thrilling contest that went into overtime, but unfortunately for the 49ers, they fell just short of victory once again, watching Patrick Mahomes engineer yet another incredible effort.
Quarterback Brock Purdy, his teammates, and his coaching staff have had plenty of time to reflect on the gut-wrenching defeat. Despite being one or two plays away from hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy himself, Purdy has found a silver lining in the loss.
Purdy recently reviewed the game film with his coach, Kyle Shanahan. While rewatching the game was tough, it allowed Purdy to gain a different perspective.
"It hurt a little bit, because we all know the end result, which sort of sucked," Purdy told The Athletic's Tim Kawakami this week. "But I think more than anything it was pretty encouraging just knowing that, man, that was my second year in the NFL, we were on the biggest stage and I could've done this better. Or the good plays. I did make those plays. Those are confidence boosters that I can continue to build off of. So it goes back and forth."
Not only was it Purdy's second NFL season, but he had only started eight games before that, including the playoffs. Additionally, Purdy was coming off major surgery to repair the torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his throwing arm. No one really knew what to expect from the recovering quarterback last season.
Purdy ended up having a record-setting 2023 campaign. His 4,280 passing yards were the most in franchise history, surpassing the legends that played the position before him.
This week, Shanahan was asked about reviewing the Super Bowl film with Purdy and the rest of the 49ers quarterbacks. It's something they did during Phase One of the offseason program.
"It's always hard to watch that stuff because so many emotions are attached to it, but after you do and you start to assess it and look at things, you put in perspective and you find a way to get better from it," Shanahan shared.
Not only is Purdy looking to get better from it, but he's come away with a healthy mental view of the game.
"To look at the big picture, I was playing in a Super Bowl this past year and coming off a UCL," Purdy said. "There's a lot of grinding and mental stuff I was going through last year, and to be able to learn from plays in the Super Bowl? That's pretty special. Not a lot of guys get to experience that. Whether you did good or bad, there's not a lot of guys that have gotten to that moment and have been able to learn from it. I'm very grateful I was able to go and play in those moments. And now I've gotta learn from it."
Purdy's ability to learn from the experience of Super Bowl 58 and build on his record-setting season provides hope that the team can come back even stronger in 2024.
