Josh Johnson, 49ers Go Out with a Whimper

The San Francisco 49ers ran out of healthy quarterbacks midway early in the third quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles. And that’s why they set a record for fewest passes thrown in a conference championship game loss.

You could argue the NFC Championship Game was decided midway through the first quarter, when Haason Reddick sacked Brock Purdy and injured his throwing elbow. If you’re generous, you could say it ended early in the third, when Ndamukong Suh leveled Josh Johnson and knocked him out of the game with a concussion. Either way, with Trey Lance out for the season and Jimmy Garoppolo unable to return from a broken foot, Kyle Shanahan had no choice other than to send a one-armed Purdy back onto the field to hand off 13 times and attempt a pair of passes to receivers near the line of scrimmage. The 49ers also let Christian McCaffrey try a desperate pass on a trick play that fooled nobody, resulting in a throwaway deep downfield.

Including 13 throws by Johnson, four by Purdy, and the one by McCaffrey, the 49ers only threw the ball 18 times on Sunday. That’s among the fewest ever for a team in the conference championship round, but it’s not the record. That honor goes to the 1973 Miami Dolphins, who threw only six passes against the Oakland Raiders. And it was only three years ago that Shanahan’s 49ers threatened that record themselves, throwing just eight passes against Green Bay. Both of those teams won, however, and they threw so rarely because they were running so effectively and dominating on defense. (Combined numbers: 551 yards gained rushing, 30 points allowed.) The 49ers only ran for 81 yards and gave up 31 points, but even in the most desperate of circumstances they could do little more than give the ball to McCaffrey and pray for missed tackles.

As mentioned in the lede, 18 pass attempts is a record-low for losing teams in the conference championships. What we didn’t tell you is that the prior record had stood for half a century.

Fewest Passes Thrown in a CCG Loss, 1970-2022
Team	Season	Opp	Score	Att	Cmp	C%	Yds	Avg.	TD	Int	Sk
SF	2022	PHI	31-7	18	11	61.1%	97	5.4	0	0	3
PIT	1972	MIA	21-17	20	10	50.0%	137	6.9	1	2	2
DAL	1973	MIN	27-10	21	10	47.6%	89	4.2	0	4	3
DAL	1972	WAS	26-3	21	9	42.9%	98	4.7	0	0	3
CHI	1984	SF	23-0	22	13	59.1%	87	4.0	0	1	9
LAR	1976	MIN	24-13	22	9	40.9%	161	7.3	1	2	3
LAR	1974	MIN	14-10	23	13	56.5%	248	10.8	1	2	2
OAK	1973	MIA	27-10	23	15	65.2%	129	5.6	1	1	0
SF	2013	SEA	23-17	24	14	58.3%	153	6.4	1	2	2
PIT	2004	NE	41-27	24	14	58.3%	226	9.4	2	3	1
ATL	2004	PHI	27-10	24	11	45.8%	136	5.7	0	1	4
DAL	1981	SF	28-27	24	16	66.7%	173	7.2	2	1	4
LAR	1975	DAL	37-7	24	11	45.8%	147	6.1	0	3	5

The record had been held by the 1972 Pittsburgh Steelers, who beat the Oakland Raiders via the Immaculate Reception in the divisional round, then hosted the undefeated Miami Dolphins a week later due to the scheduling rules at the time. The Steelers jumped out to a 7-0 lead when Terry Bradshaw’s fumble was recovered by teammate Gerry Mullins in the end zone, but the quarterback was forced to leave the game due to a concussion. With Terry Hanratty under center, the Steelers watched as the Dolphins converted a fake punt and went on to tie the game at halftime. Following a Steelers field goal, Dolphins head coach Don Shula benched Earl Morrall for Bob Griese, who had not played since breaking his leg in Week 5. Griese promptly led Miami to a pair of touchdown drives and a 21-10 lead. The Steelers then put Bradshaw back into the game, and he threw a touchdown pass to Al Young before throwing a pair of interceptions to end Pittsburgh’s season. The twin Terrys finished with similar statlines: each went 5-for-10 with a sack, though Bradshaw outgained Hanratty 80 to 57.

Mind you, the Steelers only barely set the record, because that same day the Dallas Cowboys threw only 21 passes in a 26-3 loss to Washington. Craig Morton started every game that year and actually threw quite a bit, relatively speaking, finishing fifth in the NFL with 339 pass attempts. He added 21 more in the divisional round, but the Cowboys still trailed San Francisco 28-13 in the third quarter. Morton was then benched for Roger Staubach, who added 20 passes of his own, throwing a pair of touchdowns and rallying Dallas to a 30-28 win. Staubach started again in the NFC title game, but threw only 20 passes (with running back Calvin Hill adding one of his own) as Washington played keepaway, running 62 plays to Dallas’ 45 in a 26-3 win.

Before this year’s 49ers, the most recent team in this table is … the San Francisco 49ers, and it’s not for the Green Bay game we mentioned earlier. The 2013 49ers went 12-4 but finished second behind the Seahawks in the NFC West and had to visit Seattle with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. Colin Kaepernick’s 26-yard touchdown pass to Anquan Boldin put the 49ers up 17-10 in the third quarter, but Seattle answered with two field goals and a touchdown to go back up 23-17. Kaepernick got the 49ers a first-and-goal in the red zone with a chance to take the lead, but then Richard Sherman put a stop to that. Kaepernick finished with only 24 passes, but that’s partly because he did a lot of scrambling, finishing with 11 carries for 130 yards.

Before those 49ers, we find two teams that lost on the same day. The 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers threw only 24 passes in a 41-27 loss to New England; the Atlanta Falcons threw just as many (just as few?) in a 27-10 loss to Philadelphia. That was Ben Roethlisberger’s rookie season, and the Steelers had gone 15-1 with the most runs and fewest passes in the NFL, so this was nothing new to them. The Falcons went 11-5 and won the NFC South as Michael Vick ran for 902 yards, but Vick didn’t actually run very much in the conference championship game—only four times for 26 yards. But he was also sacked four times in a quick-moving games; the Eagles ran only 62 offensive plays, the Falcons only 54.

The 1984 Chicago Bears were somewhat similar to this year’s 49ers: they went 10-6 and won the NFC Central despite starting FIVE different quarterbacks. The last of those was Steve Fuller, a former first-round pick in Kansas City who went 2-2 in the regular season before throwing only 15 passes—with five sacks!—in a divisional-round win over Washington. (Walter Payton, similar to Christian McCaffrey in many ways, added two passes of his own, including a touchdown.) A week later, despite trailing for most of the day in what turned into a 23-0 shutout win for San Francisco, Fuller only threw 22 passes. Mind you, he tried to throw a lot more, but the 49ers sacked him eight times. It is a wonder that any quarterbacks survived the 1980s.

The most notable teams to make the list here may be Chuck Knox’s Rams, who qualified three straight times in the mid-1970s. Knox’s primary quarterback in those years was James “Shack” Harris, the first African-American passer to ever start a season opener in the NFL. But Knox rarely called passing plays without a gun to his head, and Harris threw only 23 passes in a 14-10 loss to Minnesota in 1974. A year later, Harris was injured midseason and replaced by Ron Jaworski; he returned to start the NFC title game, but threw only two passes (one of which was intercepted) before Jaworski relieved him, going on to throw two interceptions of his own in a 37-7 loss to Dallas. The 1976 season saw Harris, Jaworski, and second-year quarterback Pat Haden swapping in and out of the lineup. In the end, it was Haden throwing each of L.A.’s 22 passes in a 24-13 loss to the Vikings.

If it’s any encouragement to 49ers fans, many teams with low-pass losses would go on to win Super Bowls, including the 2000s Steelers; the 1980s Bears; and the Cowboys, Raiders, and Steelers of the 1970s. With Purdy and Lance both returning in 2023, San Francisco even seems set for the same kind of quarterback controversy that plagued so many of these teams. The days ahead may be brighter, and they will certainly be interesting.

Quarterbacks
Rk	Player	Team	CP/AT	Yds	TD	INT	Sacks	Total DYAR	Pass DYAR	Rush DYAR	Opp
1.	Patrick Mahomes	KC	29/43	326	2	0	3	108	113	-5	CIN
Mahomes had a success rate of 49% and averaged 6.9 yards per dropback, both the best figures of any quarterback this weekend. He had a big day on third/fourth downs, going 7-of-11 for 93 yards with five conversions (including two touchdowns) and one sack. His receivers also helped him out by producing plenty of YAC—on throws to receivers at or behind the line of scrimmage, he went 11-of-14 for 104 yards.
2.	Jalen Hurts	PHI	15/25	121	0	0	1	29	28	2	SF
Hurts gains 31 DYAR due to opponent adjustments. His average pass traveled 9.6 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, most of the day by more than 2 full yards. It wasn’t always effective, though; he only completed one of his five deep passes, and that one (a 29-yard completion to DeVonta Smith on fourth-and-3) probably would have been overturned if the 49ers had challenged the play. He was nearly perfect on throws down the middle (7-of-8 for 45 yards, plus a 3-yard DPI), but very much not perfect on throws to his right (2-of-8 for 7 yards). Oh, and he ran 11 times for 39 yards and four first downs, including a 1-yard score.
3.	Josh Johnson	SF	7/13	74	0	0	2	3	19	-16	PHI
When Johnson entered the game, the 49ers were down 7-0; when he left, they were down 21-7. He threw only one deep pass; it was the play where he was hit by Ndamukong Suh and knocked out of the game. Brock Purdy, by the way, had -17 DYAR in limited action. He completed each of his four passes, but for only 23 total yards and zero first downs. He also had a sack-fumble that had terrible effects in both the short term (Philadelphia recovered) and long (Purdy suffered ligament damage and could barely throw the rest of the day). For what it’s worth, even before his injury, none of his passes traveled more than 7 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
4.	Joe Burrow	CIN	27/41	270	1	2	5	-15	-22	7	KC
The Chiefs sacked Burrow four times in the first half, including three straight dropbacks at one point. He had a bad day in the red zone, going 2-of-5 for 10 yards and no touchdowns, an unfortunate stat for a game that Cincinnati lost by three points. He had a rollercoaster day on deep balls, going 6-of-10 for 146 yards and two touchdowns, gaining 20 yards on a DPI, but also giving up two interceptions. Oh, and remember Patrick Mahomes’ stellar numbers on throws to receivers at or behind the line of scrimmage? Burrow wasn’t nearly so successful, going 11-of-15 for only 49 yards.

Five Best Running Backs by DYAR (Total)
Rk	Player	Team	Runs	Rush Yds	Rush TD	Rec	Rec Yds	Rec TD	Total DYAR	Rush DYAR	Rec DYAR	Opp
1.	Miles Sanders	PHI	11	42	2	1/1	3	0	34	34	0	SF
Sanders gains 14 DYAR due to opponent adjustments. He ran for three first downs—all of which, oddly, came on second downs, the longest a 13-yard touchdown. The 49ers stuffed him for no gain or a loss twice.
2.	Isaih Pacheco	KC	10	26	0	5/6	59	0	24	-5	30	CIN
Though Pacheco’s longest carry gained just 6 yards and he had only one first down, each of his 10 carries gained at least 1 yard. He added three first downs as a receiver, on gains of 16, 16, and 18 yards.
3.	Kenneth Gainwell	PHI	14	48	0	2/3	26	0	24	10	14	SF
Gainwell gains 19 DYAR due to opponent adjustments. The 49ers stuffed him a half-dozen times, but he still had four first downs on the ground, including gains of 12 and 17 yards. His best catch was a 17-yard gain on third-and-5.
4.	Boston Scott	PHI	6	21	1	0/0	0	0	13	13	0	SF
Scott gains 7 DYAR due to opponent adjustments, a big number for only six carries. He was stuffed once while running for just one first down, but that one was a 10-yard touchdown.
5.	Christian McCaffrey	SF	15	84	1	4/4	22	0	10	9	7	PHI
McCaffrey’s totals include -5 DYAR for his one pass attempt, an incompletion. He also loses 13 DYAR due to opponent adjustments. The Eagles stuffed him only two times while letting him run for six first downs, including a 23-yard touchdown and a gain of 16 (which came on third-and-20 and barely affects his DYAR, but still). None of his catches resulted in first downs, but he did have a pair of 9-yard gains on first-and-10. Also, I didn’t know where else to put this, but I have to point out how bad Deebo Samuel’s rushing numbers were. He had 9 DYAR receiving (six targets, three catches, 33 yards), but -41 DYAR rushing (six carries, -9 yards). His longest carry gained only 4 yards, and he had zero first downs, but three stuffs: a 4-yard loss on first-and-10, a 4-yard-loss on fourth-and-2, and a 7-yard loss (plus a lost fumble) on fourth-and-3.

Five Best Running Backs by DYAR (Rushing)
Rk	Player	Team	Runs	Rush Yds	Rush TD	Rec	Rec Yds	Rec TD	Total DYAR	Rush DYAR	Rec DYAR	Opp
1.	Miles Sanders	PHI	11	42	2	1/1	3	0	34	34	0	SF
2.	Samaje Perine	CIN	5	22	1	3/4	4	0	-1	17	-17	KC
Perine’s longest carry gained only 7 yards, but all five of his runs gained at least 2 yards. And he picked up first downs on all three of his carries with 2 yards or less to go for a first down, including a touchdown. If you’re curious why his receiving DYAR is so bad, his four targets resulted in no gain on second-and-14, 1 yard on first-and-10, a 4-yard gain on second-and-5, and a 1-yard loss on third-and-5.
3.	Boston Scott	PHI	6	21	1	0/0	0	0	13	13	0	SF
4.	Kenneth Gainwell	PHI	14	48	0	2/3	26	0	24	10	14	SF
5.	Christian McCaffrey	SF	15	84	1	4/4	22	0	15	9	7	PHI

Worst Running Back by DYAR (Total)

Rk

Player

Team

Runs

Rush Yds

Rush TD

Rec

Rec Yds

Rec TD

Total DYAR

Rush DYAR

Rec DYAR

Opp

1.

Jerick McKinnon

KC

4

1

0

2/4

17

0

-9

-11

2

CIN

All four of McKinnon’s carries came on first-and-10. None gained more than 4 yards; two lost yardage. His first catch was a 13-yard gain on first-and-10; his next was a 4-yard gain on third-and-12.

Worst Running Back by DYAR (Rushing)

Rk

Player

Team

Runs

Rush Yds

Rush TD

Rec

Rec Yds

Rec TD

Total DYAR

Rush DYAR

Rec DYAR

Opp

1.

Joe Mixon

CIN

8

19

0

3/3

15

0

-6

-13

7

KC

Mixon was stuffed just one time, but his longest carry gained only 7 yards and he had just one first down. He also takes a DYAR hit for failures to convert on second-and-2 and second-and-4.

Five Best Wide Receivers and Tight Ends by DYAR
Rk	Player	Team	Rec	Att	Yds	Avg	TD	Total DYAR	Opp
1.	Marquez Valdes-Scantling	KC	6	8	116	19.3	1	64	CIN
All six of Valdes-Scantling’s receptions produced first downs; three gained 25 yards or more, and he added a 19-yard touchdown. He also picked up 8 yards and another first down on a DPI.
2.	Tyler Boyd	CIN	2	2	40	20.0	0	21	KC
Two targets: a 16-yard gain on third-and-14 and a 24-yard gain on second-and-10.
3.	Travis Kelce	KC	7	8	78	11.1	1	16	CIN
Five of Kelce’s catches gained 10-plus yards, but one was a 13-yard gain on third-and-19 and another ended in a fumble (which Kansas City recovered).
4.	Tee Higgins	CIN	6	11	83	13.8	1	14	KC
Higgins caught four first downs, including a 27-yard touchdown and a gain of 21.
5.	Ja’Marr Chase	CIN	6	8	75	12.5	0	12	KC
Only three of Chase’s six catches produced first downs, the longest a gain of 35 on fourth-and-6. That still made him one of the top receivers of the week. I don’t know if you watched the games but it was not a big day for passing.

Worst Wide Receiver or Tight End by DYAR
Rk	Player	Team	Rec	Att	Yds	Avg	TD	Total DYAR	Opp
1.	Skyy Moore	KC	3	7	13	4.3	0	-42	CIN
No, this does not include Moore’s 29-yard punt return that set up the winning field goal. But it does include his four incompletions, his two failed completions (2- and 3-yard gains on first-and-10), and his best catch of the day, an 8-yard gain on first-and-10.