This Stat Could Point to Trouble for 49ers in NFC Championship Game

The San Francisco 49ers are back in the NFC Championship Game for the third time in the last four seasons. With the Philadelphia Eagles being one of the final obstacles on the 49ers' path to ending their Super Bowl drought, many fans wonder if rookie quarterback Brock Purdy has what it takes to get San Francisco over the hump.

After all, Purdy rose to the challenge when fellow 49ers QBs Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo went down with injuries. Between the regular season and playoffs, the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft is 7-0 as a starter, making a solid case as to why he should keep the role in the 2023 campaign.

Having said that, one specific stat points to trouble for the 49ers this weekend. Heading into Sunday's festivities, rookie quarterbacks are 0-4 in conference championship games.

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For those wondering, here's a look at the final score for the four previous conference championship games involving rookie QBs:

Shaun King (1999): St. Louis Rams 11 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6
Ben Roethlisberger (2004): New England Patriots 41| Pittsburgh Steelers 27
Joe Flacco (2008): Pittsburgh Steelers 23 | Baltimore Ravens 14
Mark Sanchez (2009): Indianapolis Colts 30 | New York Jets 17

While things don't look promising for the 49ers based on those stats, it's important to remember that history is meant to be broken. Besides, Purdy has already overcome a plethora of challenges in his early NFL career. Nobody expected a third-string rookie QB to be in the NFC Championship Game in the first place, but here we are.

FanDuel Sportsbook also sees Purdy and the 49ers as having an uphill battle, listing them as +2.5 underdogs against the Eagles. Only time will tell if "Mr. Irrelevant" can deliver at least one more time this postseason.

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Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

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