2022 NFC Championship Game

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2022 NFC Championship Game
DateJanuary 29, 2023
Kickoff time3:05 p.m. EST
Stadium Lincoln Financial Field
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
FavoriteEagles by 2.5 [1]
Referee John Hussey
Attendance69,879
TV in the United States
Network Fox
Announcers Kevin Burkhardt, Greg Olsen, Erin Andrews, and Tom Rinaldi
Nielsen ratings U.S. TV viewership: 47.5 million [2]

The 2022 National Football Conference (NFC) Championship Game was a National Football League (NFL) game played on January 29, 2023, to determine the NFC champion for the 2022 NFL season. The game was played at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, and featured theSan Francisco 49ers against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Contents

The Eagles defeated the 49ers, 31–7, winning their first NFC championship since 2017. The game was heavily impacted by 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy suffering an elbow injury early in the first quarter, followed by a concussion to backup Josh Johnson, leading to San Francisco lacking a healthy quarterback by the end of the game. Subsequent rule changes followed in the offseason to allow for an "emergency quarterback" during games.

Background

The San Francisco 49ers entered the 2022 season led by quarterback Trey Lance, the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft. However, both Lance and backup Jimmy Garoppolo suffered season-ending injuries, leading to third-string quarterback Brock Purdy, the last pick in the 2022 NFL draft, to take on the starting helm. Purdy won all five of the remaining regular season games for the 49ers, finishing with a 13–4 record and clinching an NFC West division title. The 49ers defeated the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card Round and the Dallas Cowboys in the Divisional Round to advance to the NFC Championship Game for the third time in four seasons. [3]

The Philadelphia Eagles finished the 2022 regular season with a 14–3 record, the most regular season wins in franchise history. Led by quarterback Jalen Hurts, the Eagles blew out their division rivals, the New York Giants, 38–7 in the Divisional Round. [4]

Game summary

First half

Philadelphia running back Boston Scott started off the game with a 29-yard kickoff return to his 34-yard line. Quarterback Jalen Hurts subsequently completed 5/7 passes for 54 yards, the longest a 29-yard throw to DeVonta Smith, who made a one-handed catch on 4th-and-3 to give the Eagles a first down on the San Francisco 6-yard line despite replays showing that he did not complete the catch. Miles Sanders ran the ball into the end zone from there to give the team a 7–0 lead. San Francisco took the ball and drove to midfield, but then Haason Reddick sacked Purdy as he was winding up for a pass, and Linval Joseph recovered it for the Eagles. Purdy's throwing arm was injured on the play, and he missed the rest of the half.

Several possessions later, 49ers punter Mitch Wishnowsky's 38-yard kick pinned the Eagles back at their own 6-yard line. Philadelphia ended up punting back to San Francisco from their 2, and Ray-Ray McCloud's 9-yard return gave them a first down on the Eagles 46-yard line. Running back Christian McCaffrey went on to get the ball on six of the 49ers next seven plays, gaining 44 of the drive's 46 yards and finishing it off with a 25-yard touchdown run in which he evaded 4 tackle attempts on the way to the end zone. The score was now tied with about 7 minutes left in the second quarter, but Philadelphia would go on to dominate the rest of the game. On their next drive, they took advantage of 3 penalties against San Francisco, marching 66 in 20 plays, the longest a 17-yard run by Kenneth Gainwell. Sanders completed the series with a 13-yard touchdown run, giving the team a 14–7 lead. On San Francisco's ensuing possession, Johnson fumbled a snap in shotgun formation. Reddick recovered the ball on the 49ers 30-yard line, setting up Scott's 10-yard touchdown run that increased Philadelphia's lead to 21–7 in the closing seconds of the first half.

Second half

On San Francisco's opening drive of the half, Johnson was knocked out of the game with a concussion, forcing the sore-armed Purdy back in to lead the team's offense. He would throw only two passes for the rest of the game. Midway through the third quarter, the Eagles went on another long scoring drive, this one covering 72 yards in 16 plays, one of them a 17-yard completion from Hurts to Gainwell on 3rd-and-5. Hurts also had a 14-yard run to give the team a first and goal, and eventually took the ball across the goal line himself on a 1-yard run. Now down 28–7, San Francisco lost the ball on their next drive attempting to convert a 4th-and-3 on their own 47-yard line. Gainwell then ran down the clock with 8 consecutive carries for 30 yards, setting up the final points of the game on Jake Elliott's 31-yard field goal with 5:20 left in the game.

Hurts completed 15 of 25 passes for 121 yards, while rushing 11 times for 39 yards and a touchdown. Reddick had 3 tackles (2 solo), 2 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Purdy and Johnson combined for just 97 passing yards. McCaffrey was the sole offensive star of the day with 15 carries for 84 yards and a touchdown, along with 4 receptions for 22 yards.

Box score

San Francisco 49ers vs. Philadelphia Eagles – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
49ers07007
Eagles7147331

at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Game information

Aftermath

After the game, it was revealed Purdy had suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and would have to undergo surgery in the offseason. [5]

This was the first NFC championship game since the 2001 NFL season to not be called by Joe Buck and Troy Aikman following their move to ESPN calling Monday Night Football. Buck and Aikman worked for the NFL on FOX since the 2002 NFL season as the lead commentator team for the network.

The Eagles advanced to Super Bowl LVII, where they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, 38–35.

Emergency quarterback rule change

The 49ers' lack of a remaining healthy quarterback by the end of game led to a rule change enacted by the NFL in May 2023. The rule, informally referred to as the "Brock Purdy Rule", allows teams that only activate two quarterbacks for a game to play a third quarterback, but only if the first two quarterbacks are injured during that game. [6] In this circumstance, calling in the third quarterback would not use up a roster spot for that team. [7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "NFC Championship - San Francisco 49ers at Philadelphia Eagles - January 29th, 2023". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
  2. ↑ "2022 NFL television ratings". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
  3. ↑ "2022 San Francisco 49ers Rosters, Stats, Schedule, Team Draftees, Injury Reports". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
  4. ↑ "2022 Philadelphia Eagles Rosters, Stats, Schedule, Team Draftees, Injury Reports". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
  5. ↑ "49ers QB Brock Purdy suffered torn UCL in throwing elbow in loss to Eagles". NFL.com .
  6. ↑ "NFL approves emergency 3rd QB after 49ers' injury woes in NFC title game - CBS San Francisco". www.cbsnews.com. May 22, 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
  7. ↑ Patra, Kevin (May 22, 2023). "NFL owners pass proposal to allow teams to have third QB active on game days without using roster spot". NFL.com. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
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