The San Francisco 49ers were last season's best NFL team. Unfortunately, they were just the victims of some injury misfortune. That's the belief held by many players within the Niners locker room.
The 49ers made it to the NFC Championship Game with a rookie quarterback, the last overall draft pick in 2022, helming the offense due to injuries to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo. Brock Purdy guided the team to eight consecutive wins before suffering a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Purdy returned to the game only because his backup, Josh Johnson, sustained a concussion. He couldn't throw the football, though, forcing the 49ers to become one-dimensional, sticking primarily with their rushing attack.
"We have, hands down, the best football team in the league," wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk said ahead of the Super Bowl. "Hands down. Hands down. I'm not even about to argue with anybody who thinks they should argue that."
One of Aiyuk's teammates completely agrees.
"From (Nick) Bosa, Arik (Armstead) to Fred (Warner), we got youngins growing, Deo Lenoir," wide receiver Deebo Samuel told Zion Olojede of Complex. "Then you go to the offensive end, you got (Brandon) Aiyuk, (George) Kittle, Trent (Williams), we got healthy quarterbacks, Christian (McCaffrey), me. From top to bottom, I feel like we the best team in the league."
The only thing that kept the 49ers from a Super Bowl last season was lacking a quarterback who could throw the football. Things might have been different had Purdy not suffered his injury. It might have been a storybook ending for the rookie quarterback and his teammates.
"I ain't going to keep going on about what could've happened and what would've happened, but yeah, it would've definitely been a different outcome," Samuel said. "... We lost because we played with 10 people."
The receiver has a lot of confidence in the 49ers heading into the 2023 season and knows the talent-rich team is a championship-caliber squad.
"We just gotta stay healthy, man," Samuel noted. "We stay healthy, and the sky's the limit. ... Brock (Purdy) is still recovering from his surgery. Trey (Lance) is fully healthy. We went and got another quarterback in Sam Darnold. That was the only piece we were missing. If we had another quarterback, we would've been alright. In that situation, what could you do? The front office is doing a good job of making sure we'll be alright."
Samuel recently told comedian Kevin Hart that he hated the Los Angeles Rams "with a passion." However, the receiver had a different answer after Olojede asked him about the Eagles, the team that ended the 49ers' Super Bowl hopes.
"[My] most hated team is the Eagles right now. One hundred percent," Samuel admitted. "I mean, hey man, we done wiped the Rams so many times. All the trash talk coming from the Eagles fan base and the players, you just get tired of that."
Samuel and the 49ers will have an opportunity for some payback. They are scheduled to return to Lincoln Financial Field for an NFC Championship Game rematch during the upcoming season.