With the 49ers' 2023 NFL season on the line in the NFC Championship Game against the Detroit Lions, Brock Purdy came to an important realization.
San Francisco was just one win away from a trip to Super Bowl LVIII, but the team took a 17-point deficit into halftime where Purdy reflected on what the mindset was coming out for the second half.
"All I remember was it was like, 'Alright just one play at a time, man.' And everyone believed it," Purdy said during a 49ers QBs panel at the Dwight Clark Legacy Series event Thursday night at San Jose’s California Theatre. "We had the guys to do it, but I remember the first play of the second half, I threw it to Deebo [Samuel] on like a 20-yard in-route and from that moment on, I was like, 'OK, this is us. We got to play like us.'
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"And long story short, [we] scored touchdowns to come back, defense balled out, got some crucial stops, and then I remember there was one drive toward the end, I scrambled for the first down, got the first, and after that, Christian [McCaffrey] had a good run in and I think Elijah Mitchell punched it in. But right then and there I was like, 'Dude, this is team football.' It's not just one guy putting the whole team on his back. It takes everybody. Everybody in the organization.
"And in that moment I was like this is not easy. This is tough. The NFL is tough. To get to the Super Bowl, to do all those things that you want to do. There's going to be those crazy, nasty wins. So that's what comes to mind how tough it is -- but man is it worth it."
Brock Purdy shares what was going through his mind while the 49ers came back from a 17-point halftime deficit in the NFC Championship Game pic.twitter.com/gYuksw4u5x
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The NFC title game was a tale of two halves.
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From offensive struggles to defensive inconsistencies, the game did a full 180 at the midway point.
And after Purdy threw a deep pass to 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who was tied up with Lions cornerback Kindle Vildor but still somehow managed to bobble and secure the ball, the young quarterback -- and the rest of the 49ers Faithful at Levi's Stadium -- sensed a momentum shift in the win-or-go-home game.
Purdy and the 49ers continued to build off that momentum and ultimately pulled out the unimaginable victory that has become a memory Purdy never will forget.
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