What could have been?
I’m already sorry for the therapy this might send San Francisco 49ers fans back into.
The NFC Championship has had some of the greatest 49ers memories of all time. “The Catch” in 1981, the stomping of the Chicago Bears in 1985, the all-star 1994 Niners finally slaying the Dallas Cowboys, and last year’s comeback against the Detroit Lions, for example.
But it’s also left some pretty horrendous marks on 49er fans psyches.
Those of a certain age might remember the 1993 loss to Dallas or the 1984 loss to Washington, but for anyone who grew up in this “era.”‘ there have been plenty of melancholy moments, too. The crushing loss to the Seattle Seahawks in 2014 (largely heralding the end of Jim Harbaugh’s 49ers) and quarterback Brock Purdy’s elbow injury in the 2023 title game are the two biggest ones that most recall.
Today, though, I want to talk about what might have been the most egregious and disappointing loss of them all: the loss in the 2022 NFC Championship game to the Los Angeles Rams.
Yes, I know. Again, I’m sorry.
You probably don’t need a blow-by-blow account of that season, but suffice it to say that the team was treading water until around Week 10, when a stirring victory over the Rams, coupled with an explosion of wide receiver Deebo Samuel into MVP-like form, led the 49ers on a charge to win seven of their last nine games.
That included a heartstopping overtime victory over the Rams (again!), which featured Ambry Thomas’s biggest, and possibly only, highlight as a 49er.
Many didn’t believe in this team, due to its streaky nature and the way it backed into the playoffs. Still, upset wins over the Cowboys, and then, in dramatic, snowy fashion, over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, had everyone believing.
That sent the team to an NFC Championship game with the Rams, whom the Niners had already beaten twice (albeit in tense fashion) that season. It seemed written in the stars that this could be San Francisco’s moment.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t.
With the team clinging to a 17-14 lead in a back-and-forth game, 49ers safety Jaquiski Tartt dropped what would have likely been a game-sealing interception with around 10 minutes left. There was nothing but empty turf in front of him, and a 10-point lead would’ve surely been too much for a banged-up Rams team to overcome.
That killed the Niners, who failed to score again and two late field-goal drives were enough for the Rams to move on to the Super Bowl, in which they triumphed over the Cincinnati Bengals.
It also killed Tartt’s career, as he never played another down in the NFL. He was not re-signed by the 49ers in free agency and was cut by the Philadelphia Eagles before the start of the following season.
Unfortunately for him, he joined the ranks of the likes of Kyle Williams, Michael Crabtree and Darrell Luter Jr. as being players who unfortunately have asterisks next to their 49ers careers: remembered (currently, at least, in Luter’s case) for their consequential plays for all the wrong reasons in a Niners uniform.
More than anything, though, it killed me as a 49er fan for a long time simply because, both at the time and with hindsight, it seemed to be the team’s best chance of that elusive sixth Super Bowl ring.
The team was about as hot as it gets. Samuel has never played that well before or since, it was arguably the most well-rounded defensive unit since the 2019 Super Bowl appearance, and even former 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garappolo was somewhere near the peak of his powers.
Not just that, though. But for the first time in a long time, the path to a Super Bowl ring didn’t have to go through the Kansas City Chiefs, as they were stunningly upset by a similarly Cinderella team, the Joe Burrow-led Bengals, in the day’s corresponding AFC title fixture.
Let’s make no bones about it: The 49ers would’ve beaten the Bengals in the Super Bowl.
They had already beaten them in the regular season, during their big run, and that was still with some top players, like Samuel, banged up compared to how they would play down the stretch.
Also, the 49ers were about as hot as hot could get, winning game after game and riding a huge wave of momentum. It felt like their name was on the Lombardi Trophy, especially after the wild turnaround against the Packers, with a blocked punt resulting in a touchdown.
And let’s face it, any time the 49ers aren’t playing the Chiefs with the Super Bowl on the line, it’s not hard to back Kyle Shanahan’s team.
It’s probably not a game anyone thinks about anymore (save for possibly Tartt, who doesn’t seem to have forgiven himself), but despite the two Super Bowl appearances, this may actually be the biggest missed opportunity of the Shanahan era.
