San Francisco 49Ers

Off to an ugly 1-5 start, the Panthers had been considering trading McCaffrey, and they found a partner in the 49ers. Carolina will receive picks in the second, third and fourth round in the 2023 draft, and a fifth-round selection in 2024.

The 26-year-old McCaffrey ranks fourth in the NFL with 670 scrimmage yards, amassing 393 on the ground and another 277 through the air.

He joins a 49ers team that lost starting running back Elijah Mitchell to a sprained MCL in the season opener and quarterback Trey Lance to a season-ending broken ankle the next week.

Despite the significant injuries, the 49ers are 3-3 and in a three-way tie for first place in the NFC West with the Seattle Seahawks and defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.

The versatile McCaffrey gives quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo another weapon to an offense that features receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk and tight end George Kittle.

The eighth overall pick of the 2017 draft, McCaffrey’s best season came in 2019, when he became the third player in NFL history to reach 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season. He finished with 1,387 rushing yards and 1,005 receiving yards and 19 total touchdowns to tie for the league lead.

Injuries, however, limited him to just 10 total games in 2020 and ‘21, but he’s suited up for all six games this year.

McCaffrey becomes the second Carolina player traded to an NFC West team this week after the Arizona Cardinals acquired wide receiver Robbie Anderson on Monday.

Shanahan is also certain Samuel will get a new deal soon. 

"What I do know is: I'm not worried about it not getting done," he told The Athletic. "I feel very confident that Deebo's going to be on our team this year, and he's going to be for many years after. I do believe he'll get a deal. I know that they're working on it right now."

Shanahan said general manager John Lynch and the 49ers front office have been working with Samuel's agent, Tory Dandy, on a new deal over the past few weeks. 

Samuel emerged as a dangerous playmaker lined up both as a receiver and in the backfield for San Francisco last season, earning All-Pro honours with 1,770 scrimmage yards and 14 total touchdowns. 

Due to make $3.986million in the final year of his rookie contract in 2022, the 26-year-old Samuel requested a trade after the 49ers failed to sign him to an extension earlier this offseason.

"I think every player in the league is underpaid," Shanahan said. "I think this league makes a lot of money, and these players go through a lot of stuff, so like you always look at it that way.

"But when you become a head coach or a general manager and stuff like that, you do get to see the other side, and your job is to put the best football team together possible, and so you work with these players and your goal is to get them paid, [but you] got to balance all that stuff together so you have a chance to win."

The 49ers reached the Super Bowl in Samuel's 2019 rookie season and nearly made it again last year before losing to the eventual champion Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game. 

This year's offense will have a different look, however, with Trey Lance taking over at quarterback for Jimmy Garoppolo. 

Despite Samuel's contract dispute, he still attended mandatory minicamp and is expected to be at training camp because of the collective bargaining agreement that deters players from holding out. 

"The days of holding out and stuff are a little bit different now because players, regardless of what the team decides later, always have to pay [the fines] back," Shanahan said. "Now, those fines can't get paid back." 

Things kick-off on Saturday when the in-form San Francisco 49ers welcome the Seattle Seahawks to Levi's Stadium, while the Los Angeles Chargers travel to Florida to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars.

A trio of games on Sunday see the Buffalo Bills host the Miami Dolphins, the Minnesota Vikings facing the New York Giants and the Cincinnati Bengals going up against the Baltimore Ravens, before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys bring the round to a close on Monday.

Stats Perform has taken a look at the more pertinent stats heading into what should be another exciting three days of NFL action as the playoffs begin.

Seattle Seahawks (9-8) @ San Francisco 49ers (13-4)

This will be just the second playoff game ever between the Seahawks and 49ers (Seattle won the other in the 2013 NFC Championship Game).

The 49ers are on a 10-game winning streak, the 13th team in the Super Bowl era to enter the postseason on a double-digit winning streak. The previous 12 teams to do so were 7-5 in their first playoff game that season.

San Francisco won both regular season meetings but have never beaten a single team three times in one campaign (including playoffs).

Geno Smith led the NFL in completion percentage this season, becoming just the second Seahawk ever do so after Dave Krieg in 1991. With 30 touchdown passes, Smith became the third Seahawk to lead the NFC in that category, joining Matt Hasselbeck (2005) and Russell Wilson (2017 and 2018).

Christian McCaffrey has scored an offensive touchdown in each of his last six games, tied for the second-longest streak in the NFL this season. The last Niner to have a longer streak (including the playoffs) was Terrell Owens in 1998 (nine).

Miami Dolphins (9-8) @ Buffalo Bills (13-3)

The Dolphins have lost their last four games in the postseason, scoring just 24 points over those games. Only one team has scored fewer points over a four-game span in the playoffs in postseason history, the Giants from 1939 to 1944 (16 points).

Miami's hopes of improving on that poor record were reduced when starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (concussion) was ruled out of this playoff contest.

But they still have Tyreek Hill, who caught 119 passes for 1,710 yards this season – both career highs. No Dolphin had ever had more than 1,400 receiving yards in one season, with the next closest being Mark Clayton in 1984 with 1,389 receiving yards.

For the Bills, Josh Allen has thrown one interception in 228 career passing attempts in the postseason, the lowest rate in NFL playoff history.

This season, the Dolphins' offense led the league, averaging 6.85 yards on first down plays, while the Bills were third (6.13). The teams were close on defense on first down plays as well, with the Dolphins 14th (5.27 yards allowed per play) and the Bills 15th (5.39).

New York Giants (9-7-1) @ Minnesota Vikings (13-4)

This is the Vikings' 31st playoff appearance, currently tied with the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz for the most by any MLB/NBA/NFL/NHL team that has never won a championship.

Kirk Cousins finished with 25 or more TD passes and fewer than 15 interceptions for the eighth straight season. The only other QB in NFL history to have a streak as long is Tom Brady (10 straight, 2009-18).

The Giants are 8-2 in playoff games since the start of the 2007 season, the best record by any NFL team in that time. Four of the Giants' 16 previous playoff appearances in the Super Bowl era have ended in a Super Bowl victory (25.0 per cent), the highest percentage for any team.

Earlier this season, Daniel Jones became the second QB in NFL history to have 3000+ passing yards, 500+ rushing yards and no more than five interceptions in a season, along with Robert Griffin III in his 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign.

Elsewhere...

This will be the Chargers' first playoff appearance since 2018, when they beat Baltimore before falling to New England. The Chargers have won at least one playoff game in four of their last five appearances. They are also 3-0 against AFC South teams in the playoffs since the division was created in 2002.

The Bengals have won eight consecutive games, which is tied for the longest win streak in team history. The Bengals are the only current NFL team without at least one winning streak of at least nine games in their franchise history (regular season and playoffs).

Buccaneers star Tom Brady has thrown for 13,049 yards in his playoff career, nearly 4,000 more than the combined career total for the other 13 projected playoff starting quarterbacks this season (9,184 combined passing yards).

Speaking via a conference call with reporters on Monday, Lynch was asked to address a report from Michael Lombardi that said the 49ers made Goodwin, Dee Ford, Kwon Alexander and Jaquiski Tartt available to be traded. 

Lynch acknowledged Goodwin's name was indeed involved in trade talks. 

"Marquise is the one guy out of that group that you mentioned where there's active discussions going on," Lynch said. "The other guys, we love and are really looking forward to playing with moving forward."

The 29-year-old Goodwin, who still has two years remaining on a deal to pay him a little over $10million, had 12 receptions for 186 yards in nine games last season before landing on Injured Reserve and missing San Francisco's run to the NFL Super Bowl. 

A third-round pick by the Buffalo Bills in 2013, Goodwin signed as a free agent with the 49ers in March 2017 after spending his first four years in Buffalo.

The 2017 season ended up being the best of his seven-year career, as he finished with personal bests of 56 receptions and 962 yards. 

Lynch said Goodwin has nearly been traded a few times, and it appears his days in San Francisco are numbered. 

"There's a scenario where Marquise can help us," Lynch said. "He brings a lot to the table, so we have been in discussions.

"It came close a couple of times. There's a lot of different aspects to being able to close these deals, and he's a guy, because we know he has value, we continue to hang on and we'll see if something happens here." 

Per widespread reports, the Niners made the roster move on Wednesday after assessing a calf injury suffered by the five-time All-Pro selection.

Sherman is subsequently unavailable for at least three weeks, ruling him out of upcoming contests against the New York Jets, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles.

That is a significant blow to the team beaten in February's Super Bowl LIV, with the Niners also losing their season opener 24-20 at home to NFC West rivals the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday in a tough outing for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

The Niners' number one corner Sherman played in 74 of their 78 defensive snaps in that game, giving up just one catch for nine yards on two targets.

A first-round pick by the San Diego Chargers in 2014, the 28-year-old Verrett earned a trip to the Pro Bowl in 2015, but injuries have limited him to just two games in the last three seasons. He signed with the 49ers on March 14, 2019 after sitting out all of the 2018 season due to a torn Achilles tendon. 

In his only appearance last season in Week 3 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Verrett was beaten for a 39-yard touchdown pass before exiting the game with a knee injury and was subsequently placed on injured reserve. 

Johnson had signed with San Francisco on October 3 after being released by the Chargers and appeared in seven games for the 49ers, registering two tackles. 

The 28-year-old was drafted in the fourth round by the 49ers in 2014, and spent his first four seasons in San Francisco appearing in 63 games while making 22 starts before departing in 2018.

NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported that Samuel suffered a Jones fracture and is expected to be out for between three and four months. A 12-week recovery puts his return in the first few weeks of the season. 

The team later confirmed the receiver underwent surgery on his left foot on Thursday. While they did not indicate a timescale for his return, Samuel tweeted: "10 weeks I'm back better than the Deebo you seen before".

A rookie in 2019, Samuel was second on the 49ers in receptions and receiving yards, finishing with 57 catches for 802 yards, and caught three touchdown passes. 

In the playoffs, the 24-year-old emerged as Jimmy Garoppolo's favorite target with team highs of 10 receptions and 127 yards.

He had five catches for 39 yards in the 49ers' Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Miami.

Ask any number of teams to have come up short on the biggest stage and then gone on to endure a nightmare subsequent campaign, they will confirm its legitimacy.

The 2020 San Francisco 49ers experienced perhaps the most severe hangover of any Super Bowl runner-up in the modern era, and little of it was their own doing.

San Francisco suffered from an utterly remarkable injury crisis. In a year where every team in the league was impacted by the coronavirus, the Niners had to deal with the core of one of the most talented rosters in the league being decimated.

Having seen three opt out before the start of the season, the Niners had 40 players placed on either the injured reserve, physically unable to perform, or reserve/COVID-19 list over the course of the year.

The scale of the injury crisis left head coach Kyle Shanahan and those on his roster who stayed healthy fighting an uphill battle to reach the postseason.

It was a fight they ultimately lost despite a very admirable effort, finishing 6-10, leaving San Francisco with significant questions to answer this offseason.

Using Stats Perform data, we look back on a season defined by misfortune and look ahead to what the 49ers must do in free agency and the draft to ensure they are back in the postseason in 2021.

Offense

Keeping your starting quarterback healthy is imperative to success on offense, but the 49ers rarely had their top option, Jimmy Garoppolo, available at 100 per cent in 2020.

Garoppolo suffered a high ankle sprain in a fateful Week 2 win over the New York Jets and never truly recovered.

He featured in only six games and did not build a convincing case that he deserves to remain the starter long term.

The former New England Patriot completed 94 of his 140 passes for 1,096 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions. Garoppolo's interception percentage of 3.6 was the third-highest among players to have attempted at least 100 throws.

One of the two players above him on that list was his backup, Nick Mullens (3.7), whose turnovers helped end San Francisco's hopes of qualifying for the playoffs.

Mullens committed 16 giveaways, 12 of those coming on interceptions, with no team conceding more takeaway points than the Niners' 124.

Those turnovers tilted contests in which the undermanned Niners were generally competitive in their opponents' favour and limited the upside of an offense that still finished in the top half in yards per play (5.66) and passing yards per play (6.62) despite the absences of Garoppolo, All-Pro tight end George Kittle and wide receiver Deebo Samuel for much of the season.

Yet the fact Mullens still managed to finish the season 15th among qualifying quarterbacks in yards per pass attempt (7.48) is illustrative of the ceiling of Shanahan's offense.

Samuel (12.09) led the league in yards after catch per reception among receivers with at least 10 catches, while no rookie caught more red-zone touchdowns than Brandon Aiyuk (5).

When it is healthy, the Niners' offense can still be one of the most dynamic in football.

However, it requires a durable quarterback who takes care of the ball and, in 2021, will need more of a boost from a running game that was minus NFC Championship Game hero Raheem Mostert for most of the year, San Francisco finishing 16th in yards per rush (4.32) having been ninth in 2019.

Ensuring the 49ers possess those offensive necessities in 2021 will be paramount given the amount of turnover their top-10 defense looks set to experience.

Defense

Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh earned a head coaching job with the Jets on the back of the efforts of his depleted defense in 2020.

Minus 2019 Defensive Rookie of the Year Nick Bosa, who tore his ACL against the Jets, Saleh kept a defense that saw its cast of characters consistently rotate due to injuries and Covid issues in the top 10.

The 49ers ranked fifth in opponent yards per play allowed (5.05), with San Francisco extremely stingy against the run, giving up an average of 3.96 yards per carry that only five teams bettered.

Though the offense's tendency to turn the ball over consistently put the defense in bad positions, the 49ers were the fourth-best team in the league at keeping opposing offenses out of the endzone.

San Francisco gave up touchdowns on 37 of the 183 offensive drives faced in a season where the Niners' opponents had the eighth-best average starting field position in the NFL.

The 49ers' secondary consistently rose to the task when challenged by opposing passing attacks, with the 44 passing plays of 20 or more yards San Francisco gave up tied for the sixth-fewest in the league.

Their efforts in keeping opposing passing attacks in check were helped by the performances of unheralded edge rusher Kerry Hyder, who compensated somewhat for Bosa's absence with 8.5 sacks and a combined total of 53.5 knockdowns and hurries, tied for 20th in the league.

However, that was some way short of the 81.5 Bosa had a year ago, and the fact the Niners were still one of the better pass defenses in the NFL despite finishing 22nd in sacks (30), 28th in hurries (144) and 27th in knockdowns (68) speaks to the high level of performance from the secondary.

Yet the odds of keeping that secondary together in a pivotal offseason look slim.

Offseason

The 49ers have been publicly supportive of Garoppolo despite his struggles in staying on the field, but there is still significant doubt as to whether Shanahan and general manager John Lynch will double down on that backing and stick with him as their signal-caller in 2021.

Having said to have been interested in Matthew Stafford before he was traded to NFC West rivals the Los Angeles Rams, the 49ers are also reported to have called about the availability of Carolina Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.

Frequently mentioned as a possible destination for disgruntled Houston Texans star Deshaun Watson and Sam Darnold of the Jets, the Niners at the very least appear to be open to the possibility of putting a fresh face at quarterback, and they would have significant financial motivation for moving on from Garoppolo.

The Niners are in a better position than most when it comes to the salary cap. They are scheduled to be over $26million under the $182.5m salary cap, but parting ways with Garoppolo would free up just shy of $24m in extra room and give San Francisco additional flexibility with which to keep hold of a plethora of free agents.

Thirty-one members of the 2020 roster are scheduled for free agency, including every cornerback who took a defensive snap last season.

Re-signing All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams is the priority for San Francisco, with corner Jason Verrett likely to be next on the list following a superb comeback season after years of injury frustration.

Richard Sherman is not expected to be back and the futures of key contributors like Kyle Juszczyk and Jaquiski Tartt are more clouded.

San Francisco's list of needs in the draft could therefore be long but the upside of their hangover is that it landed them the 12th overall pick.

That puts the Niners potentially in the conversation for one of the top quarterbacks in the class should they indeed want an alternative to Garoppolo, and they are in an excellent spot to land a premium player at a number of positions, with corner, edge rusher and interior offensive line all areas in need of reinforcement.

Getting Bosa back and hopefully avoiding an astronomical level of injuries will go a long way to putting the Niners back in playoff contention.

Yet with several departures likely on defense and first-time coordinator DeMeco Ryans taking over for Saleh, the 49ers may not be able to rely on that side of the ball to do the heavy lifting as it has often done over the past two years.

That means the 49ers can ill-afford more uncertainty at quarterback and puts the wisdom of keeping a signal-caller who has missed 23 games with the team due to injury into serious question. Garoppolo's durability concerns have held back what should be one of the most consistently devastating offenses in the NFL.

With clear avenues to make a change at the most important position, how far the Niners go in 2021 hinges largely on their level of belief in a quarterback who had them seven minutes from Super Bowl LIV glory.

San Francisco progressed to the postseason as the NFC second seed, and have home field advantage in the first game of this season's playoffs, which will take place on Saturday.

The Seahawks defeated the Los Angeles Rams in overtime in their final regular-season game and were subsequently handed a favour by the Detroit Lions, who eliminated the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers from playoff contention.

In Saturday's second game, the Los Angeles Chargers travel to Florida to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars, who clinched the AFC South title with a 20-16 win over the Tennessee Titans.

A day later, the Buffalo Bills, who beat the New England Patriots in an emotional game on Sunday, will host the Miami Dolphins.

The Cincinnati Bengals, whose January 2 game against the Bills was suspended and subsequently cancelled altogether following Damar Hamlin's cardiac arrest, go up against the Baltimore Ravens in Sunday's final game, after the New York Giants have taken on the Minnesota Vikings.

The Wild Card round concludes with the Dallas Cowboys' trip to face Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Lockett sustained the injury on the final offensive drive of the Seahawks' 21-13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday.

The win clinched the NFC West for 10-4 San Francisco and served as a further dent to Seattle's hopes of securing a Wild Card berth at 7-7.

Seattle's prospects of reaching the postseason now appear to be further diminished by the loss of the former first-team All-Pro and two-time second-team All-Pro Lockett.

The Seahawks are still deciding how to treat the injury, with surgery an option for Lockett, who could return in two weeks, according to Carroll.

"There's a couple different ways that they can do the surgery," Carroll said. "One of the ways gives him a chance to be back.

"Remember [running back] Rashaad Penny... had an injury similar, very similar.

"So they've already floated that thought and they're going to talk about all the options and all that and we're going to love him up and take care of him. Whatever the right thing to do to take care of him, we're going to do.

"I can't fathom playing without Tyler. I got a chance to hang with him, just to try to express what it's like to be working with a guy like this for so long.

"He's such an incredible player. He's not in tremendous pain. He's got a broken hand.

"You feel sorry for him, but he's such a magnificent football player and a member of the team and member of the community and our area and our fans... that we're gonna miss the heck out of him for whatever he misses."

Since entering the NFL as a third-round pick in 2015, Lockett has racked up 7,031 receiving yards and 53 receiving touchdowns, which are tied for the seventh-most in the league in that span.

The Seahawks visit the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Eve before finishing their regular season with games against the New York Jets and Los Angeles Rams.

Wilson reached a century of regular-season wins in the NFL following the Seahawks' 28-21 success against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Already a Super Bowl champion, Wilson finished 16-of-23 passing for two touchdowns, while he rushed for another TD on four carries.

Wilson joined Hall of Famer Peyton Manning as the second quarterback in NFL history to win 100 games in their first 10 seasons, though the eight-time Pro Bowler became the fastest to triple digits.

"I'm excited about the next hundred," Wilson said. "There's more championships. There's more things we want to do."

Wilson was the star of the show as the Seahawks (2-2) ended a run of back-to-back defeats.

The 32-year-old produced a vintage performance, with his touchdown pass to Freddie Swain one of the highlight reel.

Wilson spun away from a blitzing Dontae Johnson and avoided Nick Bosa before finding Swain for the TD.

"I thought Russ was spectacular today," Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said post-game. "It was so hard early.

"He just stayed the course, stayed with it and really kind of recaptured a chance to win this game when you wouldn't think there was any way. It just didn't look like it was going to happen."

Wilson added: "Both of them right there — 'uh oh'. I've had some good plays in my career. That was definitely a good one."

"I was speechless, man," Seahawks offensive lineman Duane Brown said of the moment. "I just went to him and said, 'You're a bad [expletive]'.

"That's my words to him. That's one of the best plays I've seen from him in my time here. But with him, it's just commonplace."

San Francisco progressed to the postseason as the NFC second seed, and have home field advantage in the first game of this season's playoffs, which will take place on Saturday.

The Seahawks defeated the Los Angeles Rams in overtime in their final regular-season game and were subsequently handed a favour by the Detroit Lions, who eliminated the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers from playoff contention.

In Saturday's second game, the Los Angeles Chargers travel to Florida to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars, who clinched the AFC South title with a 20-16 win over the Tennessee Titans.

A day later, the Buffalo Bills, who beat the New England Patriots in an emotional game on Sunday, will host the Miami Dolphins.

The Cincinnati Bengals, whose January 2 game against the Bills was suspended and subsequently cancelled altogether following Damar Hamlin's cardiac arrest, go up against the Baltimore Ravens in Sunday's final game, after the New York Giants have taken on the Minnesota Vikings.

The Wild Card round concludes with the Dallas Cowboys' trip to face Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

All eyes were on debutants Odell Beckham Jr. and Von Miller after the high-flying Rams (7-3) acquired the star duo to boost their Super Bowl bid.

But the 49ers (4-5) spoiled the party – Jimmy Garoppolo throwing two touchdown passes as San Francisco celebrated just their second home win in the past two seasons, keeping their playoff hopes alive on Monday.

The 49ers, who have now won five straight games against the Rams – the longest active streak by either side, matching their 2008-10 run – had last emerged victorious on home soil in October 2020, also over the Rams.

Part of that was down to the 49ers having to play part of the 2020 season in Arizona due to COVID-19 restrictions in Santa Clara, but there was still a sense of relief as they eventually enjoyed success in their own backyard.

Shanahan was grateful to put such a run behind them.

"It's been frustrating," he said. "We haven't won at home yet this year. The last time we did win at home was versus the Rams.

"We had one game after that versus the Packers, and we spent are our home [games] in Arizona, but just going to this year was very frustrating.

"Especially, the crowds that we've had, the way our fans have been. They were awesome today. Just like they were awesome last week, but I'm glad we gave them something to be proud of today.

"I just told [the team] how proud of them I was. I said we've got a short week. I think we've got a real good team [the Jacksonville Jaguars] ahead of us – that's how we expect to play here.

"It's been long overdue and we've got to make sure that we take a day off. Those guys rest, come back healthy on a short week, make sure we keep it going forward."

There were entirely different thoughts going through the head of Rams coach Sean McVay, however, with the Super Bowl hopefuls suffering back-to-back losses for the first time this season.

"I choose to believe that these last couple weeks are not who we are," he said. "I refuse to believe that, even though, you know what, you're only as good as your last game.

"These last two weeks have certainly been humbling."

Beckham was rather less dramatic, though, despite his debut being overshadowed by a chastening defeat.

The wide receiver, who joined the Rams as a free agent this week following his release by the Cleveland Browns, simply felt the 49ers were better all over the field.

"I was excited, I felt like I was ready for the moment," Beckham added. "I've been through so much and God has put me in this position for that exact moment.

"It just wasn't our night. There's really no way around it, it just wasn't our night. Any given Sunday any team can win.

"The Niners came out and they played better than us in all phases of the game, and that's really the moral of the story. There's no trying to find what happened, they just outplayed us."

Garoppolo suffered a broken foot on the 49ers' first drive of their thrilling 33-17 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, which maintained San Francisco's one-game lead atop the NFC West at 8-4.

Purdy was the final pick in the draft this year, earning him the tag 'Mr Irrelevant', but he is now the focus of San Francisco's season after an encouraging performance in relief of Garoppolo.

The former Iowa State quarterback completed 25 of his 37 passes for 210 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, the Niners outscoring the Dolphins 30-10 after Garoppolo left the game as San Francisco's top-ranked defense rattled Tua Tagovailoa and the NFL's most explosive offense.

Now the 49ers, a team who had Super Bowl aspirations with Garoppolo under center after he took over from injured 2021 third overall pick Trey Lance, must try to achieve their goals with Purdy under center.

While most may believe their hopes are now over, Shanahan is not giving up.

"What impressed me about Brock in [training] camp," Shanahan said, "is he was always willing to let it rip.

"He's decisive. He started for years [at Iowa State] at a high level. You gotta have some balls to play quarterback in this league, and he does. We think we'll have a chance with him."

Purdy will this week prepare for his first start, which will come against the man regarded as the greatest of all time, Tom Brady, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"Pretty cool," Purdy told King when asked about going against Brady. "The GOAT. He's been playing football longer than I've been alive."

But Purdy knows he will not have to do it alone, as he enters arguably the best offensive ecosystem in the NFL with Shanahan calling the plays for an attack stacked with weapons, and he also has the assistance of a defense that forced three turnovers from Tagovailoa as the 49ers beat a team led by former offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel.

"I know the question is, can I step in and continue this ride of what our team has done?" added Purdy.

"It's not just a one-man show or anything like that. What Jimmy did for this team was amazing in terms of getting it rolling and getting us on a streak to win.

"The challenge for me is like, man, can I step up in that position and continue to feed those guys? Get them the ball. Make the right checks in the run game. Allow the defense to play great and play with them. That's the challenge for me and that's how I look at it and I'm excited for it."

Lance will be the Niners' starter in 2022, replacing Jimmy Garoppolo, who is likely to be released when rosters are trimmed to 53 players if San Francisco cannot find a trade partner.

San Francisco reached Super Bowl LIV with Garoppolo as the starter in the 2019 campaign and narrowly lost last season's NFC Championship Game with the former New England Patriot under center.

However, the Niners traded three first-round picks to move up to the third overall pick in the 2021 draft and select Lance out of North Dakota State, believing him to have the physical gifts and the mental attributes to take their offense to the next level.

They will now see their assessment of Lance put to the test across a full season. Lance started two games in relief of an injured Garoppolo last year and, prior to that, had only one full season of college football under his belt. That came in 2019 when he threw for 28 touchdowns and ran for a further 14 without throwing a single interception as Lance led North Dakota State to an FCS National Championship.

That lack of seasoning makes Lance one of the biggest unknowns of the 2022 season, but head coach Shanahan does not think his performance will be the defining factor for an extremely well-rounded team harbouring Super Bowl aspirations.

"Is Trey ready to take it on his shoulders?" Shanahan told Peter King's Football Morning in America. "He shouldn't be. He hasn't gone through it enough.

"I believe in him as a man, as a person. I believe in his talent. I don't think he is going to make or break our season, just like in 2019 and last year, I didn't think Jimmy was going to make or break our season."

Shanahan, though, suggested attempting to deliver for a team under pressure to win a sixth Super Bowl title after going agonisingly close in two of the last three seasons could negatively impact Lance.

"But what sucks is when you're learning how to play and you're not there yet, how do you not get worse sometimes when that pressure's on you and you need to go through the growing pains?" Shanahan added.

Lance went 1-1 as a starter last year, throwing for 603 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions in his brief time on the field. He also ran for 168 yards and a touchdown.

According to Stats Perform data, Lance was the second-most aggressive quarterback in the NFL in terms of pushing the ball downfield. Among quarterbacks with at least 50 pass attempts, only Drew Lock (10.20) averaged more air yards than Lance (10.10). 

Lance was still accurate despite regularly attempting low-percentage throws. No player to average at least 9.0 air yards had a better well-thrown rate than Lance, who delivered an accurate, well-thrown ball on 77.1 per cent of his attempts.

In his first preseason game of 2022, Lance played two offensive series, completing four of his five passes for 92 yards including a 76-yard touchdown to rookie wide receiver Danny Gray in a 28-21 win over the Green Bay Packers.

Lance will take part in joint practices between the 49ers and Minnesota Vikings this week but will not play in Saturday's second preseason game.

Mitchell sprained the MCL in his right knee in Sunday's 19-10 loss to the Chicago Bears, exiting the game in the second quarter.

The 24-year-old running back, who scored seven touchdowns across the 2021 season, had six carries for 41 yards in the game before being ruled out at half-time.

"We're estimating about two months, eight weeks, give or take a few," Shanahan said. "Hopefully, it goes well and it's earlier but you never know with those things, so that's what we're guessing."

Mitchell broke the 49ers' single-season rookie rushing record in 2021, rushing for 963 yards in 11 regular-season games, along with a further 169 yards in the postseason.

"He was pretty down," Shanahan said. "For obvious reasons, we're down for him. Elijah went through a lot last year, it's well documented the injuries he had.

"He really worked hard this offseason. He was feeling really good going into that game and I thought he looked really good before he got hurt.

"And just unfortunate hit that he had. I just tried to tell him to keep his head up. Anybody who would have gotten caught in that situation would have gotten hurt with the way his foot planted in the ground and the guy hit his knee. I think we were just real fortunate it wasn't worse."

The Niners will travel to face NFC West rivals the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday as they bid to reach a second Super Bowl in three years.

They need two straight wins at SoFi Stadium – which will also host the Super Bowl on February 13 – to make history.

The play of Garoppolo has come under scrutiny in the playoffs despite San Francisco's advance.

In their two wins over the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers, he had zero touchdowns and two interceptions, with passing yard totals of 172 and 131 respectively.

His future has been in doubt ever since the Niners traded up at huge cost to select QB Trey Lance at number three overall in the 2021 draft.

But head coach Shanahan believes the public support shown by Garoppolo's teammates such as George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Fred Warner and Nick Bosa speaks volumes for his contribution.

"It shows what our guys think of him," Shanahan said. "And it also shows our guys probably are on social media [seeing the criticism].

"They probably feel a need to stick up for him. I know his social media probably hasn't been that great, so I'm glad they're sticking up for him because what they say is the truth."

Garoppolo also led the Niners to the Super Bowl in the 2019 season, resulting in an agonising loss to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

He could only play in six games last season as the whole Niners roster was decimated with injuries but led the team in 15 regular season contests in 2021.

"Jimmy is one of the main reasons we're here," insisted Shanahan.

"He's done an unbelievable job. People don't give him enough credit. We win as a team, and that's why he doesn't always have the same stats that some of these MVP candidates have.

"But Jimmy's a very good quarterback - he doesn't worry about any of that stuff. He doesn't worry about social media. That's why he's a little similar to me.

"He never really changes, and I think that's what people respect the most about him.

"He's gone through some ups and downs while he's been here, like most quarterbacks do, but he's the same guy. And that's why people, first and foremost, respect him as a human, as a person.

"And then the way that he goes and battles on the field, everyone knows how tough he is, everyone knows how hard he'll compete running with the ball and our guys also know he can throw pretty well too."

Garoppolo, who arrived in a trade from the New England Patriots in 2017, has a similar view about outside critics.

Asked if he had a strategy to cope, he said: "Well, friends, family, they always seem to remind me of those things, but I don’t know.

"Just knowing yourself and knowing who you are plays a big part of that, because if you get lost in it and start believing some of those things, it could take you down the wrong road.

"So I don’t know, I think it’s just about knowing yourself as a player, as a person, and as long as these guys in this locker room have faith in me and belief in me, that is all I really care about."

The Niners have won six straight games over the Rams in their regular-season series, with a dramatic comeback 27-24 overtime victory over LA in Week 18 getting them into the playoffs as a wildcard team.

But it is NFC West champions the Rams who go into the contest as narrow favourites having knocked off defending Super Bowl champions the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Divisional Round.

The 49ers, meanwhile, won 13-10 in Green Bay despite failing to score an offensive touchdown.

They were just the ninth team ever to win a playoff game in that way - NFL teams were previously 8-103 in playoff games without a scrimmage touchdown.

Avoiding turnovers is going to be critical. The Rams are 8-0 this year when Matthew Stafford does not throw an interception, while the 49ers are 7-0 when Garoppolo does not throw a pick.

Garoppolo is on injured reserve with an ankle injury and the San Francisco QB's future has been thrust into the spotlight amid criticism, while the 4-6 49ers struggle to reach the lofty heights of 2019.

The former New England Patriots quarterback, who led the 49ers to last season's Super Bowl, has completed 94 of 140 passes for 1,096 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions in six games this season.

Asked about Garoppolo, Shanahan told reporters on Tuesday: "I expect Jimmy to be our starter next year.

"I expect him to come and play with us this year. We have six games left, we are not out of the playoffs yet.

"I have been on a team that was 3-6 going into a bye week that ended up winning their division. I think we have guys on this team that are capable of finishing this the right way.

"We've got to do it one game at a time, and I hope Jimmy can be a part of that.

"But to think that we've made any decisions on anybody going into the future isn't the case. Jimmy has won a lot of games for us. It's a lot harder to win games when he's not here. Just hoping we can get him back."

Garoppolo – a two-time Super Bowl winner in New England – is 22-8 as a starter with the 49ers since joining from the Patriots in 2017, while he is 2-1 in the playoffs.

The 29-year-old has 659 completions for 8,042 yards, 51 touchdowns and 26 interceptions throughout his NFL career.

The 49ers gained seven points on special teams and saved three on a night where Robbie Gould's walk-off field goal earned a 13-10 triumph to send San Francisco to the NFC Championship Game.

Green Bay had led for most of the game after AJ Dillon's first-quarter touchdown but the 49ers drew level late when Jordan Willis blocked Corey Bojorquez's punt allowing Talanoa Hufanga to collect the loose ball and run into the end-zone.

The 49ers regained possession with 3:25 to play, with the excellent Deebo Samuel helping drive them into field-goal range before 39-year-old Gould nailed his 45-yard attempt on the final whistle.

"We thought our special teams had an advantage in this game," head coach Shanahan said. 

"We thought they had an opportunity to possibly win us the game. And to be able to say that and to actually come to fruition was huge for those guys and huge for our team."

Gould, who has now succeeded with each of his 20 career playoff field-goal attempts, ensured his boot stayed hot in snowy conditions at Lambeau Field and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo paid tribute to his team-mate, with a little pun thrown in for good measure.

"I always trust Robbie. He's as good as gold, man. He always is," he said.

Garoppolo added: "It's dangerous, man. When a team gets hot, it's dangerous.

"So we've just got to keep this thing going, focus on next week now, and keep this thing rolling.

"It took everything. We knew it was going to. I mean, it was just offense, defense, special teams - everybody stepping up and doing their part. I wouldn't have it any other way."

The stars certainly seemed to align for the 49ers, who lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV, with Jimmie Ward having earlier blocked a 39-yard field goal attempt from Mason Crosby on the final play of the first half. Had he made the kick the Packers would have led 10-0.

Victory means the 49ers are headed to their 17th conference championship appearance, the most for any team since the conferences were forged following the 1970 merger.

With the Cincinnati Bengals having beaten the Tennessee Titans earlier in the day, it also meant it was the first time since 2010 both number one seeds lost in the divisional round in the same season.

George Kittle said the 49ers proved they are a "gritty" team to make it this far.

"This team has been through a lot," the tight end said. "We've been through a lot of adversity. 

"We've dealt with a lot. We've lost games by making mistakes. We've won games dirty. This is a gritty team. It's a salty team, and we just keep bouncing back."

Reports on Sunday suggested that Samuel, who was entering the final season of his rookie deal, would receive $58.1million guaranteed, in a deal potentially worth $73.5m.

In the 2021 season, Samuel became just the second player to score six or more rushing and receiving touchdowns and record over 1,000 receiving yards in a single NFL campaign, after former 49ers running back Roger Craig in 1985 was the first.

Samuel also set an NFL season record for a wide receiver with eight rushing touchdowns.

The 26-year-old led the league in yards per reception (18.2) last season among players with at least 35 catches, while his 1,770 yards from scrimmage ranked as the third most in the league and the second-highest total by a wide receiver in franchise history, behind only Hall of Famer Jerry Rice's 1,884 in 1995.

Speaking at a media conference on Monday just prior to the official confirmation, head coach Shanahan said: "My favourite thing about Deebo is how much he inspires people. He inspires me more than almost any player I've watched on a field.

"The way he runs the ball when you're handing it to him or you're throwing it to him, when he's catching it on a kick, and these aren't things that you have to talk him into doing. He usually talks you into doing [them] because Deebo just loves playing football.

"He loves helping us win, and I think that's what everybody sees on Sunday when you guys watch him on TV. I think that's why this country really likes Deebo also."

Samuel had reportedly requested a trade in April, but the two sides worked out their issues and Samuel did report to June's mandatory mini-camp as well as training camp, though he did not practise while his contract situation remained unresolved.

Following confirmation of the deal, 49ers general manager John Lynch also referenced the player's inspirational qualities, saying: "We are overjoyed to have come together with Deebo to keep him with the 49ers for years to come.

"Deebo has the rare ability to not only play at a unique level but to inspire his team-mates with the way he plays. He is a special player that embodies 'will meeting skill'.

"We're proud to move forward with him as an integral leader and foundational piece of our team."