Christian McCaffrey Feels 49ers Had NFC Title 'Stolen' from Them by QB Injuries

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey is still upset about how the NFC Championship Game played out.

Appearing on The Up and Adams Show with Kay Adams, McCaffrey said playing without a healthy quarterback "feels like something got stolen from you."

The 49ers played virtually the entire second half against the Philadelphia Eagles without a functional quarterback.

Brock Purdy suffered a torn UCL on San Francisco's first offensive possession when Eagles pass-rusher Haason Reddick forced a fumble as he attempted a throw.

Josh Johnson, who signed with the 49ers in early December after Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a broken foot, came in to replace Purdy. The 36-year-old struggled in his first appearance in a playoff game. He went 7-of-13 for 74 yards before suffering a concussion on the first possession of the second half.

Faced with the possibility of McCaffrey as their emergency quarterback, Purdy went back in the game despite being unable to throw the ball more than a few yards down the field. He did get off a few short screen passes, but the 49ers otherwise had to run on every play.

McCaffrey provided San Francisco's lone offensive highlight from the game with a 23-yard touchdown run in which he broke four tackles to tie the score at seven.

The Eagles scored 24 unanswered points after that point. San Francisco had only three first downs and 47 total yards in the second half.

McCaffrey expressed hope that the NFL would change the rule to allow teams to dress a third quarterback in the event of an emergency situation. The rule, which was in place from 1991-2010, allowed teams to keep an extra quarterback active on gameday without him counting toward the 45-player roster limits.

The NFL ended the third quarterback rule in 2011, instead opting to increase the size of game-day rosters from 45 to 46 players. Even though teams are still allowed to carry a third quarterback under this new rule, they rarely do because it's typically better to have additional depth at a position where players rotate in and out more often.

The New York Giants had to turn to Saquon Barkley as their emergency quarterback in a Week 4 game against the Chicago Bears after Daniel Jones and Tyrod Taylor were injured. Barkley only had to lead one full drive in that situation.

The 49ers kept the game against Philadelphia competitive late into the third quarter despite their quarterback issues, but the inability to move the ball through the air ended any hope they had of making it to the Super Bowl.