The 2022 season was the San Francisco 49ers' 73rd in the National Football League (NFL), their 77th overall, and their sixth under the head coach/general manager tandem of Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch.
After having an underwhelming start, with notable season-ending injuries, combined with a 3–4 start before the bye week, the 49ers won the rest of their games, improving on their 10–7 record from the previous year after a Week 16 win over the Washington Commanders. With a Week 15 win against the Seattle Seahawks, and with the Rams and Cardinals both being mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, they won the NFC West for the first time since 2019 and clinched a playoff berth, also becoming the NFL's first team this season to win their division. The 49ers swept the NFC West for the first time since 1997, which included sweeping the Seahawks for the first time since 2011. With a 41–23 victory over the Seahawks in the Wild Card round, San Francisco completed a 3–0 sweep of all three games played against Seattle. The next week, the 49ers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 19–12 in the Divisional round, defeating them in the playoffs for the second consecutive season. The 49ers lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 31–7 in the NFC Championship in which injuries to third-stringer Brock Purdy and fourth-stringer Josh Johnson during the game and first-stringer Trey Lance and second-stringer Jimmy Garoppolo previously in the season made the 49ers unable to stay competitive.
The season was highlighted by the emergence of rookie quarterback Brock Purdy, taken last in the 2022 NFL draft, who started after an injury to Jimmy Garoppolo (who himself replaced the injured Trey Lance) and went 5–0 as the starter to end the regular season before winning his first two playoff games. The 49ers were well-balanced and dominant on both sides of the ball during the season. On offense, they finished 5th in total offense with 365 yards per game and 6th in scoring, averaging 26.5 points a game, while also finishing first in the league in plus/minus differential with a +173. On defense, they were even more dominant, as they finished first in the league in both total defense and defensive scoring (306 yards per game and 16.3 points per game respectively). They also finished first in the league in turnover differential with a +13, which included 20 interceptions and 10 fumble recoveries.
Jordan Matthews missed the 2022 season after tearing his ACL in practice.
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