2023 San Francisco 49ers

• QBBrock Purdy
• RBChristian McCaffrey
• WRBrandon Aiyuk
• WRDeebo Samuel
• TEGeorge Kittle

You remember when San Francisco finally looked complete enough to finish the job. The 49ers had spent years getting close. A Super Bowl loss in 2019. Another NFC Championship run in 2021. Then the 2022 season ended with Brock Purdy unable to throw after tearing the UCL in his elbow. Somehow, the last pick in the draft came back from surgery and kept the job. With Christian McCaffrey now fully embedded in Kyle Shanahan’s offense, San Francisco entered 2023 with almost no obvious weakness left.

Everything started with Brock Purdy. Purdy never looked like a quarterback trying to justify where he had been drafted. He simply kept getting the ball to the right people. McCaffrey could run between the tackles, catch passes in space, or turn a normal play into six points. Brandon Aiyuk became one of the league’s best route runners, Deebo Samuel still turned short touches into violence, and George Kittle remained the emotional center of the offense. Trent Williams protected everything up front, while Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw, and Charvarius Ward gave San Francisco a defense built to suffocate teams once the lead arrived.

The 49ers finished 12-5 and earned the NFC’s top seed. Purdy threw for 4,280 yards and 31 touchdowns while leading the league in passer rating. McCaffrey ran for 1,459 yards, scored 21 total touchdowns, and won Offensive Player of the Year. San Francisco opened 5-0 and humiliated Dallas 42-10 before a three-game losing streak made everything look less certain. Then the 49ers came back from the bye and started crushing contenders again. They walked into Philadelphia and beat the defending NFC champions 42-19. By December, San Francisco looked like the team everyone else in the NFC had to go through.

The playoffs immediately became much harder than anyone expected. Green Bay came to Levi’s Stadium and pushed San Francisco to the edge. The 49ers trailed 21-17 in the fourth quarter, the rain kept falling, and Purdy had struggled most of the night. Then he led the drive they needed. McCaffrey scored from six yards out with just over a minute left, and Dre Greenlaw intercepted Jordan Love to finish it. Twenty-four to twenty-one. The team that had spent most of the season winning comfortably had survived its first real January scare.

Detroit gave them an even bigger one. The Lions stormed out to a 24-7 halftime lead, and for a while San Francisco looked completely overwhelmed. Then everything flipped. A deep Purdy throw bounced off Kindle Vildor’s facemask and into Brandon Aiyuk’s hands. McCaffrey scored. Detroit failed on fourth down. The 49ers scored 27 unanswered points and came all the way back to win 34-31. After years of playoff heartbreak, San Francisco was going back to the Super Bowl.

And waiting there was Kansas City again. Four years earlier, Patrick Mahomes had erased a fourth-quarter 49ers lead in Super Bowl LIV. This time, San Francisco controlled most of the first half and led 10-3. Then Dre Greenlaw tore his Achilles simply running onto the field. Kansas City slowly pulled the game back. Jauan Jennings threw a touchdown to McCaffrey, then later caught one himself to put San Francisco ahead 16-13. But Jake Moody’s extra point was blocked. The Chiefs answered with a field goal instead of needing a touchdown. Sixteen to sixteen. The 49ers took the lead again. Moody kicked a field goal with 1:53 left, but Mahomes drove Kansas City down the field and tied it with three seconds remaining. In overtime, San Francisco got the ball first and reached the Chiefs’ 9-yard line before settling for another field goal. Twenty-two to nineteen. One stop would finally finish the story.

Mahomes never gave them one. He converted fourth-and-one with his legs, kept moving the chains, and eventually found Mecole Hardman for the winning touchdown. Twenty-five to twenty-two. San Francisco had led in the first half, led in the fourth quarter, and led in overtime. It still wasn’t enough.

That's how people remember the 2023 49ers. They remember Purdy going from Mr. Irrelevant to an MVP candidate, McCaffrey making Shanahan’s offense feel complete, Aiyuk’s catch off the facemask, and the comeback against Detroit. They remember destroying Dallas, getting revenge in Philadelphia, and finally returning to the Super Bowl with a roster that seemed to have everything. Most of all, they remember the team that finally looked complete enough to finish the job—and still watched Patrick Mahomes take it away.