49ers rally vs. Lions in NFC title recreation to succeed in Tremendous Bowl LVIII

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — As they trudged to the locker room at halftime down 17 factors to the Detroit Lions, their season’s finish seemingly simply half-hour away, the San Francisco 49ers’ vary of feelings wasn’t onerous to understand.

The Lions had simply pushed the Niners everywhere in the discipline for the primary two quarters and frustration did not do it justice. On the sunshine facet, operating again Christian McCaffrey known as for focus. Coach Kyle Shanahan mentioned his crew was indignant. Defensive finish Nick Bosa described it as embarrassing.

For a proud, veteran crew enjoying in its fourth NFC Championship Recreation in 5 years and third in as many seasons, no quantity of halftime prodding was going to supply an immediate repair.

“No matter any of that stuff, we’re not going out like this,” Shanahan mentioned. “We have got to be much more aggressive right here within the second half in every thing we do, offensively, defensively, particular groups. … The blokes did not need in the present day to be the final day.”

For a crew that spent a lot of the season operating away and hiding from opponents by leaping out to huge leads, the 49ers have turned this postseason run right into a testomony to their resolve.

That was writ giant Sunday evening when the 49ers erased that 17-point deficit in simply eight minutes of recreation time, rattled off 27 consecutive second-half factors and surged to a shocking 34-31 win to say the franchise’s eighth NFC championship, tied for the second most in league historical past. It tied for the most important comeback in an NFC Championship Recreation ever with the 2012 Niners, who rebounded from down 17 to beat the Atlanta Falcons.

The victory punched San Francisco’s ticket for Tremendous Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and set a rematch towards the identical Kansas Metropolis Chiefs they confronted in Tremendous Bowl LIV.

“It is excellent,” Bosa mentioned. “It is excellent and so they’re as nice as a company, coach, quarterback as there’s, and so they had been down, not wanting nice this yr, both. They’re enjoying their greatest ball now, so it is going to be a giant problem.”

To earn that chance, the Niners needed to overcome what Shanahan mentioned was a half as dangerous as any his crew performed this season. Detroit outgained San Francisco 280 to 131, picked up 18 first downs, restricted the Niners to 4.7 yards per play and got here away with quarterback Brock Purdy’s first profession postseason interception.

The Lions’ bodily dominance was obvious of their three touchdowns and 148 yards on 21 carries, together with 5.4 yards per carry earlier than contact.

“It was the best way we had been down,” Shanahan mentioned. “They had been sort of having their approach within the run recreation. We weren’t getting a lot in our run recreation, both. … That might have been an actual tough approach to finish it if we could not have performed higher with our group.”

The Niners proved in final week’s comeback victory towards the Inexperienced Bay Packers that although they’ve received most of their video games in blowout style, they’re additionally able to preventing again after they’re on the ropes. The Niners are actually one in all two groups — together with the 1994 San Diego Chargers — to engineer a number of seven-plus-point second-half comebacks previous to reaching the Tremendous Bowl.

After managing a Jake Moody discipline aim to open the third quarter, the Niners acquired the ball again when Detroit went for it on fourth-and-2 at San Francisco’s 28 and quarterback Jared Goff’s move fell incomplete.

Two performs later, the Niners acquired the break and the spark that kicked their comeback into overdrive. On first-and-10 from their 45, Purdy acquired the look he wished with receiver Brandon Aiyuk one-on-one with Lions cornerback Kindle Vildor. Purdy let it fly however Vildor managed to remain deep and regarded poised for the interception.

As a substitute, the ball clanged off Vildor’s facemask, bounced into the air and the alert Aiyuk hauled it in for a 51-yard catch. Three performs later, Aiyuk caught a 6-yard landing to chop the deficit to seven.

“To have an explosive play like that was big in that second,” Purdy mentioned. “BA did a fantastic job with monitoring the ball all the best way and making an enormous play for us. He is a baller. That was clutch on his half.”

Aiyuk’s huge catch would not be the one bounce that turned the sport in San Francisco’s favor. On Detroit’s subsequent play from scrimmage, security Tashaun Gipson hit Jahmyr Gibbs and compelled a fumble that Arik Armstead recovered. 4 performs, together with the primary of two 21-yard scrambles by Purdy, acquired the Niners into the top zone once more and so they had shortly turned a 24-7 deficit right into a tie at 24.

In the meantime, the 49ers’ protection adjusted, permitting 34 dashing yards within the second half, arising with two fourth-down stops and yielding simply seven factors. Detroit tightened up, dropping catchable passes, coughing up the fumble and struggling to maintain drives alive.

By the point it was over, the Niners had scored 27 straight, the fourth-most consecutive factors by a crew in a convention championship recreation that was trailing getting into the run, in keeping with the Elias Sports activities Bureau. It was additionally probably the most by a crew that was down greater than 10 factors.

“That is the cool factor about soccer,” tight finish George Kittle mentioned. “For us to have the ability to hunker down and begin to fireplace on all cylinders, that is what you see, an explosive offense, a really proficient protection that flied round and hits folks and causes turnovers after which our particular groups make performs when they should.”

Along with the 27 second-half factors, the Niners rolled up 282 yards of offense whereas averaging 7.4 yards per play. After accounting for simply 92 yards from scrimmage with an interception within the first half, Purdy threw for 174 and a landing and ran for 49 yards within the closing half-hour.

Each of Purdy’s 21-yard scrambles led to touchdowns.

“The blokes did not need in the present day to be the final day.”

49ers coach Kyle Shanahan

“I believed it was the distinction between profitable and shedding,” Shanahan mentioned. “He made some huge performs together with his legs, getting out of the pocket, shifting the chains on some first downs, some explosives. He competed his ass off in the present day. Wasn’t straightforward on any of us. He stored grinding, was unbelievable there within the second half.”

With the victory, the Niners sit alone in NFL historical past with 38 playoff wins, surpassing the New England Patriots and Packers.

After what Shanahan mentioned shall be a while to have fun Sunday evening and into the wee hours of Monday, the Niners will flip their consideration to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. That they are going to get an opportunity to atone for the loss to Kansas Metropolis of their final Tremendous Bowl look in 2020 is the icing on the cake. The Niners led that recreation by 10 and had the ball with 8:53 to go however fell 31-20 because the Chiefs rattled off the ultimate 21 factors.

Kansas Metropolis has since been again to the Tremendous Bowl two earlier occasions, profitable a type of, and can enter this one because the defending champion. The 49ers opened as 2.5-point favorites at ESPN BET, however the lined dipped to -1.5 inside 20 minutes after being posted and was as little as -1 at some sportsbooks Sunday evening. The overall opened at 47.5.

San Francisco’s core of veterans has been right here earlier than however nonetheless longs to interrupt by way of. To do it, the Niners should do what they could not simply 4 years in the past.

“We achieved what we wished to perform,” fullback Kyle Juszczyk mentioned. “We’re again within the Tremendous Bowl and now we now have yet one more aim to go. We now have to win this recreation.”