St Nick CLARA, Calif,-The 31st time was the appeal for the San Francisco 49ers.
The 49ers entered Saturday's NFC divisional round season finisher matchup with the Green Inlet Packers 0-30 under mentor Kyle Shanahan while following by seven or more focuses entering the final quarter. However, quarterback Brock Purdy drove the principal final-quarter rebound of his profession to lead the Niners to a 24-21 win over the Packers at Levi's Arena.
Running back Christian McCaffrey scored the go-on score with 1:07 left, permitting the 49ers to conquer a 21-14 shortage to overcome a troublesome Packers crew and advance to the NFC Title Game, where they'll have the champ of Sunday's NFC divisional season finisher game between the Tampa Inlet Marauders and Detroit Lions on Jan. 28.
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers picked the most ideal time for their most memorable last part, fight against eminent loss win of the time.
On a night when the very much refreshed Niners looked corroded, San Francisco figured out how to keep the game close with a blend of chances of a lifetime and huge plays to make way for Purdy and the offense to produce the cash time drive that had evaded them throughout the season.
Assuming control over down 21-17 with 6:18 to go at their 31-yard line, the Niners walked 69 yards on 12 plays quickly, 10 seconds. After battling the greater part of the evening, Purdy was 6-of-7 for 47 yards and conveyed two times for 11 yards on the game-dominating drive, which was covered by McCaffrey's 6-yard score run for the last edge.
It was just the subsequent game-dominating drive with Purdy under focus and the principal in which he needed to accomplish more than essentially take a knee to set up the game-dominating field objective. Linebacker Dre Greenlaw's second capture attempt of the night fixed the triumph.
Nobody knows better than the Niners the thin line between winning and losing in the postseason, and though it was far from their best performance, it was enough to get them one step closer to a Super Bowl return.
QB breakdown: In a week 6 loss to the Cleveland Browns, Purdy had one of the worst games of his young career in rainy conditions against a top defense. The rain was again a factor on Saturday night, but Purdy wasn't facing that same vaunted defense.
Purdy looked uncomfortable in the pocket for large chunks of the game, seemingly a tick slow going through his progressions and misfiring to open receivers. But when his team needed him the most, he rebounded to finish 23-of-39 for 252 yards with a touchdown pass and no interceptions.
Biggest hole in the game plan: At the end of the first half, the Niners held a 7-6 lead and had the ball with 4:09 to go and three timeouts in their pocket. It looked like a golden opportunity for Shanahan and the Niners to "lap" the Packers with a touchdown before the half and then another to open the third quarter.
Shanahan played it ultra-conservatively, running the clock down in an apparent attempt to prevent the Packers from getting the ball back rather than being aggressive to put another touchdown on the board.
That approach backfired as kicker Jake Moody's 48-yard field goal was blocked, and the Niners went three-and-out on the opening possession of the second half. Instead of a potential 21-6 lead, it was 7-6. Green Bay then seized the lead with 9:27 left in the third quarter.
Key injury: The 49ers lost receiver Deebo Samuel to a left shoulder injury in the first half, and he did not return. Samuel had two catches for 24 yards on San Francisco's opening possession but left the game to first be evaluated for a concussion. When he cleared those tests, he departed again because of a shoulder issue.
At halftime, the Niners ruled Samuel out for the rest of the game with Jauan Jennings and Ray-Ray McCloud III stepping in opposite Brandon Aiyuk. -- Nick Wagoner
Next game: vs. winner of Buccaneers-Lions at 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Jan. 28.
Green Bay Packers
This still seems like the beginning of something significant.
After all, the Packers were the youngest team in the league and few expected Jordan Love's first season as the starting quarterback to even get this far.
But despite Saturday's disappointing loss to the top-seeded 49ers, the window for this team is just beginning to open. Consider all the young skill players the Packers have around Love -- receivers Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks , and Bo Melton, along with tight ends Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave - will be together for multiple years to come.
And running back Aaron Jones showed down the stretch that he still has plenty left in the tank to come back for another run.
Love's last pass-an ill-advised deep throw over the middle that was picked off by Greenlaw-will linger as the one that ended the season, but it could ultimately prove to be a learning experience for Love.
Pivotal play part 1: After Jones was stuffed for no gain on the first play of the second quarter, coach Matt LaFleur elected to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the 49ers' 14 rather than trying a field goal that would've given Green Bay a 6-0 lead. Love's sneak attempt was stuffed by Greenlaw. LaFleur didn't like the spot, but it wasn't moved. The 49ers then scored a touchdown on the next possession.
Pivotal play part 2: Two plays before that 49ers touchdown, Purdy appeared to get away with intentional grounding on first-and-10 from the Packers' 37. From within the pocket, Purdy threw it away deep down the field, but there wasn't a receiver anywhere in the vicinity. On third-and-5 from the Packers' 32, Purdy hit tight end George Kittle for the score.
Troubling trend: Anders Carlson's missed field goal from 41 yards in the fourth quarter was the rookie kicker's 10th missed kick in the past 12 games of the season, including both field goals and extra points.
Bold prediction for the offseason: Joe Barry will be back as defensive coordinator. It once seemed like he was a sure thing to be fired, but it would be a surprise now after the way the Packers finished the season despite the 49ers' last drive.
Consider this quote from LaFleur last week when asked about Barry: "I couldn't be happier. I know what Joe Barry is all about in terms of the resiliency. There's tough moments, and there's tough moments in every season. I felt like I know what we have in him and was confident that if anybody could kind of right the ship, so to speak, it was him." -- Rob Demovsky
Next game: 2023 season is over.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- For most of the regular season, the San Francisco 49ers followed a similar blueprint.
When they won, they did so convincingly. When they lost, they failed to make the big play or key drive at the end that would have turned the result in their favor.
Despite those failures in close and late situations, the 49ers insisted they could win that type of game. They just never had proven it.
Finally, that season-defining moment came Saturday night at Levi's Stadium against the Green Bay Packers. With hopes of the franchise's sixth Lombardi Trophy hanging in the balance, the Niners forged their first fourth-quarter comeback of the season and escaped with a thrilling 24-21 win.
With the victory, the Niners advanced to their third consecutive NFC Championship Game and fourth in the past five years. San Francisco will host the winner of Sunday's matchup between the Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Jan. 28.
"We needed a win like that," defensive end Nick Bosa said. "We just haven't come from behind in a while."
Indeed, the last time the Niners had a comeback victory was in Week 17 last season, when they won on a field goal in overtime against the Las Vegas Raiders. What's more, the Niners entered Saturday's game with a record of 0-30 under coach Kyle Shanahan in games (including the playoffs) that they trailed by seven or more points entering the fourth quarter. They were 0-3 in such games during the regular season.
On Saturday, the 49ers trailed 21-14 entering the final quarter. For the first three, the Niners had looked out of sorts, struggling to move the ball offensively and getting stops on defense. They lost receiver Deebo Samuel to a left shoulder injury in the first quarter, struggled to keep their footing under a steady rain, had a field goal blocked and racked up costly penalties.
With help from Packers miscues and a few timely short-yardage stops, the Niners managed to keep it close, but for much of the night it looked like a promising season was about to slip away. That was especially true for quarterback Brock Purdy, who was making his fourth career postseason start and first since suffering a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow in last year's NFC Championship Game loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Because of the rain, Purdy struggled to grip the ball, saying that he began it with a glove on his right (throwing) hand but soon ditched it because he was "fed up" with it.
"There were sometimes where I'm dropping back and the ball was a little wet from the grass, and it sort of affected some accuracy and stuff," Purdy said. "But that's football, so I've got to be better in that area."
Before the game's final drive, Purdy had looked uncomfortable in the pocket and was unable to efficiently get through his progressions to get the ball where it needed to go. Before San Francisco's winning touchdown drive, Purdy was 17-of-32 passing for 205 yards with a touchdown, and though he had no interceptions, the Packers had dropped a couple of golden opportunities Purdy had thrown them.
Even that play came with drama as Greenlaw frantically raced all over the field attempting to score a touchdown as his teammates, coaches and Niners fans screamed for him to go down. It was Greenlaw's second interception of the night and he'd attempted a similar return on his first one, too. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Greenlaw covered 101 yards of total distance on the two interception returns but only gained an actual 25 yards on them.
"Fred [Warner] told me I was supposed to get a pick-six," Greenlaw said, laughing. "So, I mean, it was kind of his fault. ... But yeah, I know I need to go down."
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