49ers second-half comeback vs. Lions to go to the Super Bowl،
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — There are months of preparation, film study, game planning, injuries, pain, work and sacrifice. All of this is essential if you want to get to the Super Bowl. But sometimes, even after all that, you still need a fun shaped ball to bounce on.
“Obviously, nobody wins without a little bit of luck,” San Francisco 49ers left tackle Trent Williams said in the locker room hours after his team's 34-31 victory over the Detroit Lions in the game. NFC championship. “Tonight was just our time to get it.”
The discussion centered on a key third-quarter play – a 51-yard catch by Brandon Aiyuk of a Brock Purdy throw that had every right to be an interception, but instead became the play that turned the fortunes around of the 49ers. There were 6:29 left on the clock in the third quarter and the Lions led the 49ers 24-10. Moments earlier, San Francisco had stopped Detroit on a fourth-and-2 at the Niners' 28-yard line. It seemed like a turning point, but the Niners still needed to make a big play or two on offense to concede.
A 17-yard pass to receiver Deebo Samuel moved the ball to the Niners' 45-yard line. Purdy lined up with a shotgun and called for the snap. On the field, he saw the game unfold the way he wanted. Safety CJ Gardner-Johnson picked off Samuel on a crossing route, leaving Aiyuk one-on-one with cornerback Kindle Vildor. That, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan would later explain, meant Purdy was supposed to throw it to Aiyuk.
“We need an explosive game and BA is one-on-one? I'll take that [opportunity]”, Purdy said. “I was giving my guy a chance.”
What San Francisco didn't count on was the quality of Vildor's coverage, as the 2020 fifth-rounder stayed between Aiyuk and the goal line, putting himself in position to throw an interception. But as he reached out to catch the ball, he fell and the ball hit him in the chest and flew back into the air.
“I was surprised,” Aiyuk said. “I felt the look before, before the snap, and that I had a chance to get the ball, but it just stayed at the top. I don't even know.”
However, being surprised didn't cost Aiyuk much. He saw the ball bounce in the air at the defender, and he dove and caught it himself at the 4-yard line. Most of his team was about 50 yards from the field, so it was difficult to know what happened. A flag was lowered. Aiyuk had rolled into the end zone with the ball. Was it a penalty? Was it a touchdown? Was it really a trap? Could he have caught it?
“I saw the flag, but I couldn’t see much,” Purdy said. “Then I heard the stadium erupt, and it was like, 'Oh my God, did he catch that?'”
“BA had a tremendous season making some crazy plays for us,” defensive lineman Arik Armstead said. “But this one was really wild.”
“Exactly as we wanted!” » Tight end George Kittle is impassive. “Take the mask off the guy in BA's hands, damn, Brock Purdy is good at football.”
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Brandon Aiyuk connects breathtaking TD catch
Brandon Aiyuk catches Brock Purdy's deflected pass from a Lions player, and a few plays later, he scores a touchdown.
“What can you say?” » Williams said with a huge smile. “No amount of training, no amount of watching film can prepare him to pull off such a feat. It's just talent and will.”
The Niners scored a touchdown three plays later, Purdy to Aiyuk appropriately enough. The stadium was vibrating. A 17-point halftime deficit came back to seven. The Niners kicked off and on the Lions' very first play of possession, running back Jahmyr Gibbs fumbled and Armstead recovered.
“Why do analysts say momentum isn’t real?” » Kittle asked the assembled media during his postgame press conference. “That’s the biggest horse bullshit I’ve ever heard in my life.”
It was impossible to be at Levi's Stadium in that moment and not feel like something had changed. The Niners had the ball at the Detroit 24. Purdy threw one to Kittle on first down who lost a yard. Then, on second down, the pocket collapsed and Purdy took off, racing 21 yards to the Lions 4-yard line. It was the first of two 21-yard runs for Purdy – he had another one in the third and fourth quarters on the fourth-quarter drive that ended up giving the 49ers a 10-point lead with three minutes to go. END. He hadn't had a 20-yard run all season before Sunday.
“Brock is an athlete,” Williams said. “Obviously his athleticism is underrated. People don't look at him and think he could take the ball in and run with it like that. But he can do it. We see it in practice. He can run. So we needed him to run, and he ran. He's made plays for us all year, and he's the reason we're in the Super Bowl.
Sunday's third quarter could be an even bigger reason. After allowing 148 rushing yards, 18 first downs and 24 points in the first half, the 49ers returned to the locker room at halftime still feeling good about their situation. Shanahan said the feeling at halftime was, “We're not going to come out like that,” and the players thought things were going to change.
Entering the playoffs, the Niners were 0-30 under Shanahan while trailing by seven or more points early in the fourth quarter, according to ESPN Stats & Information. They ended that streak last week against the Green Bay Packers, scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter in the divisional round victory. They were also 0-19 under Shanahan when trailing by 17 or more points in the second half. They took it this week. According to Elias Sports Bureau, the Niners joined the 1994 Chargers as the only teams to complete multiple second-half seven-point comebacks in the playoffs before reaching the Super Bowl. (That Chargers team lost to San Francisco in the Super Bowl.)
“We were actually confident,” Williams said. “Knowing we were going to get the ball first, especially. The plays were there, we just weren't making them. We have Aiyuk, Deebo, we know they will eventually put their mark on a game like this. Moreover. , [the Lions] threw their best shots in the first half. Trick games, flea flickering, all that. You knew it would all slow down eventually and everything would be okay.”
They were right. The Niners outscored the Lions 17-0 and outscored them 170 yards to 42 in the third quarter. But the Lions also fumbled and dropped key passes on third and fourth downs.
“I just have to wait,” Williams said. “You play long enough, you stick to your plan, you do it the right way, and things eventually go your way.”
And then, in Week 21 of the season, after everything you've done to put yourself in position to get to the Super Bowl, a ball bounces off the defender and goes into your receiver's hands, and it's what it took to put in a year's worth of work. The 49ers are back in the Super Bowl for the second time in five seasons, and it took a little bit of everything in an epic and unforgettable third quarter to get them there.
