The San Francisco 49ers played host to the Detroit Lions for what was just the second postseason matchup between these two franchises in the Super Bowl era. Even with digging themselves into a two touchdown hole early, 14-0, the 49ers scratched and clawed their way back into the game, regaining the lead in the second half. With their 34-31 win over the Lions, San Francisco has punched its ticket to its second Super Bowl in five seasons.
It took a comeback of epic proportions, but the San Francisco 49ers are headed to Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII.
The Lions dominated the ball and the scoreboard in what was a shocking first thirty minutes in San Francisco. They controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball while rumbling to 148 first-half rushing yards against a strong 49ers defensive front in route to a 24-7 halftime lead. But then the third quarter turned everything around.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe 49ers (14-5) erupted for a 17-point outburst in an eight-minute span in the third quarter in large part to a wild catch and eventual touchdown from Brandon Aiyuk and another from Christian McCaffrey, which came after a brutal Lions fumble. That knotted the NFC championship game and completely erased the Lions’ 17-point halftime lead. The 49ers took their first lead of the game when it counted in the fourth quarter on a 33-yard field goal.
“We’re not going out like this,” coach Kyle Shanahan said of the mindset at halftime. “Guys didn’t want today to be the last day. We put ourselves in a hole. They played like it in the second half and we were able to get the ball to bounce the right way and we made up for what we did in the first half.”
After forcing a huge stop, Brock Purdy and McCaffrey came up with huge runs to keep the 49ers’ drive alive and eventually set up an Elijah Mitchell touchdown. That put them up by 10 points, 34-24, late in the fourth quarter. While Jared Goff led the Lions on one last touchdown drive, it came too little too late. Their onside kick failed, which sealed the three-point win for the 49ers.
“No one was rah-rah,” Purdy said. “No one was freaking out. It’s football. There’s a lot of experienced guys on this team, veteran guys who have been in crazy situations. We were just like, ‘We have to do our job.’”
After being questioned about whether he could lead a comeback, Purdy has now done it twice in as many weeks. He engineered a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter to beat Green Bay Packers 24-21 last week and then had an even bigger comeback against the Lions.
He finished with 267 yards passing and a touchdown, along with using his wheels for 48 yards rushing thanks to a pair of 21-yard scrambles. Now the last pick of the 2022 draft, ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ will be starting in the Super Bowl against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
“All he’s done since he’s been here is play at an elite level,” McCaffrey said. “Everything starts with him. We’re lucky he’s our quarterback. He takes a lot of heat for absolutely no reason.”
The 49ers will now get the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. The Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens earlier on Sunday in the AFC championship game, 17-10, to reach their fourth Super Bowl in the last five seasons.
