The 49ers, led by Brock Purdy, defeated the Lions 34-31 by 17 points and advanced to the Super Bowl.
San Francisco 49ers cornerback Brock Purdy, 13, and offensive tackle Trent Williams, 71, during the second half of the NFL Championship Football Game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, January in Santa Clara, California. (age) celebrates Elijah Mitchell’s touchdown run. 28th, 2024. (Photo AP/Mark J. Terrill) (Associated Press)
Santa Clara, California. (AP) – Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers were in a dire situation, needing inspiration to overcome a huge lead and avoid a third straight loss in the conference title game.
Brandon Aiyuk made an unbelievable catch that saved San Francisco’s season. Purdy’s 51-yard pass deflected off a defender’s facemask and into the hands of Aiyuk as the Niners took a 17-point halftime lead and defeated the Detroit Lions 34-31 on Sunday to clinch a Super Bowl berth. .
The 49ers (14-5) scored 17 points in eight minutes in the third quarter to tie the NFC Championship Game, then pulled away in the fourth quarter to win a rematch with Kansas City, which lost to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. Four years ago. “Nobody was happy,” Purdy said. “No one panicked. It’s soccer.
This team has a lot of experienced players, veterans who have been through some crazy situations. We just said: “We have to do our job.»
San Francisco trailed by more than 17 points in the conference title game thanks to some big plays from Purdy and mistakes by the Lions (14-6), including twice missing fourth down on field goals. He made a comeback for the second time. Detroit failed to advance to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history.
Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said, “We played our best in the first half, but we were still down 17 points. We have a lot of things to make up for.” “The D stopped them in the second half and that guy next to us (Purdy) made it happen.”
Purdy made two comebacks in as many weeks after being asked if he could lead a comeback. He engineered the game-winning fourth-quarter play to beat Green Bay last week, then pulled off an even bigger comeback against the Lions. He finished with 267 passing yards and a touchdown, rushing for 48 yards on two scrambles for a 21-yard gain.
Christian McCaffrey had two touchdown runs and little-used backup Elijah Mitchell had a 3-yard run with 3:02 left to make it 34-24, giving the Niners a losing conference the past two seasons.
He overcame adversity to win the title. . “There’s been a long time of unfinished business. Our team has been working on this for a long time,” Shanahan said. “It’s taken us a long time to get to this point, but we’re here today. It was tough at first, but given the nature of our team and the type of guys we have, it was a good idea to go to Las Vegas. I can’t wait.
The Niners took a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship Game against the Los Angeles Rams two years ago, but were without their starting quarterback against Philadelphia last year after Purdy injured his elbow in the first game. He was forced to play most of the match. game. In addition to the hit, fourth-man Josh Johnson left the game with a concussion early in the third quarter.
But San Francisco has come a long way and is now in position to deliver a record sixth Super Bowl victory for the franchise and first since the 1994 season.
The Lions’ magical season ended in heartbreak. Detroit remains the only team to play in each season of the Super Bowl era without making it to the final game.
Detroit had won just one game over the past 56 seasons, but with back-to-back playoff wins, it looked like this year would be the year to end that drought. But the Lions couldn’t finish the job despite leading 24-7 at halftime.
“It’s tough when you lose like that,” coach Dan Campbell said. “I feel like my heart has been torn out. But I’m proud of this group and I’ll go anywhere with them.
San Francisco made a field goal early in the second half, and the game was completely turned around in the fourth minute. Campbell tried his luck on a fourth-and-2 from the San Francisco 28, but Josh Reynolds failed to pick off Jared Goff’s pass, leading to a turnover on downs.
Then Purdy’s deep pass hit Kindle Vildor’s facemask and it looked like the Lions might have an interception, but the ball went out and was caught by Aiyuk, who made a spectacular 51-yard interception. . “When I saw him catch it, I thought it was crazy,” Purdy said.
Purdy found Aiyuk three plays later for a 6-yard score. “Before the game, a ladybug landed on my shoe. You all know what that means,” Aiyuk said. “That’s all I can say. I don’t know anything else.”
Jameer Gibbs then fumbled on the next play from scrimmage, setting up McCaffrey’s 1-yard run to tie the score at 24. Things got even worse for the Lions from there, with Reynolds throwing another pass on third down that resulted in a punt, and Detroit had a chance to kick at the 1 but missed.
Purdy then led the Niners to Jake Moody’s 33-yard field goal for their first lead of the game. “The dynamics have definitely changed rapidly,” Goff said. “They scored, we didn’t convert on fourth down, but they scored again and we turned the ball over. This little sequence makes things difficult.
Campbell missed a chance to score a game-tying field goal in the middle of the fourth quarter with the Niners on 30 points and 4 out and 3rd base. Goff threw an incomplete pass, and the Niners went for a surefire touchdown. Goff’s pass to Jameson Williams with 56 seconds left was recovered offside by the 49ers, clinching the victory. Goff completed 25 of 41 yards for 273 yards and one touchdown. San Francisco’s front seven had no answers in the first half against Detroit’s offensive line, which repeatedly left big holes and gave up yards to defenders before first contact.
The Lions rushed for 148 yards in the first half, with Williams, David Montgomery and Gibbs scoring touchdowns. Michael Badgley added a field goal in the second half to give Detroit a 24-7 halftime lead. This was the second-best performance by a road team in the first half of a conference title game since the NFL and AFL merged.
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