Somehow the 49ers and rookie quarterback Brock Purdy are going to the NFC championship game.
San Francisco is riding a 12-game winning streak, including seven consecutive wins with Purdy under center. They won an eighth game with Purdy as their QB in Week 13 against the Dolphins, but he didn’t technically start that one.
With his consecutive wins to begin the postseason, Purdy has now climbed into a small group of rookie QBs to land in the conference championship game since 1970.
While it’s impressive for a rookie QB to make the conference title game, Purdy’s run is a little more remarkable since he’s the only one of the group of five to be drafted later than the second round. The next step for Purdy will be to become the only one to make the Super Bowl.
Here are the five rookie QBs to make the conference championship since 1970 and how they fared in that game:
1999, Shaun King, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Drafted: Round 2, Pick 50
Championship result: L, 11-6 at Rams
Championship stats: 13-29, 163 yards, 2 INT
2004, Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers
Drafted: Round 1, Pick 11
Championship result: L, 41-27 vs. Patriots
Championship stats: 14-24, 226 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT
2008, Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens
Drafted: Round 1, Pick 18
Championship result: L, 23-14 at Steelers
Championship stats: 13-30, 141 yards, 3 INT
2009, Mark Sanchez, New York Jets
Drafted: Round 1, Pick 5
Championship result: L, 30-17 at Colts
Championship stats: 17-30, 257 yards, 2 TD, INT
2022, Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
Drafted: Round 7, Pick 262
Championship result: ???
Championship stats: ???
By the numbers
Combined records: 0-4
Combined score: 105-64
Combined stats: 57-113 (50.4%), 787 yards, 6.96 YPA, 4 TD, 9 INT
