The opportunity for the San Francisco 49ers to go into Philadelphia and beat the Eagles in the NFC Championship game went south quickly. An elbow injury to quarterback Brock Purdy in the first quarter knocked the Niners backwards, and a concussion suffered by backup Josh Johnson put the Niners in an all-but-impossible situation.

It got so bad that Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young jokingly volunteered to put on a uniform and jump in the huddle for his old team. “Warming up in the parking lot, let me know,” read an ESPN tweet.

Young is one of the game's top analysts for ESPN and he clearly was making the point that the Niners were in a desperate situation. San Francisco came into the game having won 12 consecutive games, and brought a dynamic defense and red-hot quarterback in Purdy into the battle with the Eagles.

However, Philadelphia took control of a close game with 2 late touchdowns in the second quarter. After Christian McCaffrey had tied the game at 7-7 with a 23-yrd TD run midway through the second quarter, the Eagles responded with a 14-play, 67-yard TD that culminated with a 13-yard touchdown run by Miles Sanders.

Johnson fumbled a snap on the ensuing possession, and Boston Scott added another touchdowns with 16 seconds left in the half.

The injuries to Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson gave the Niners little opportunity to mount any kind of comeback in the second half.

Meanwhile, the Eagles took advantage of their home field and their opponent's injuries to win the NFC Championship Game by a 31-7 margin and advance to the Super Bowl.