Josh Dubow, an AP Pro Football Writer

Santa Clara, Calif.

On Sunday, Brock Purdy led the San Francisco 49ers to victory with 267 passing yards and one touchdown, overcoming a 17-point deficit at halftime to defeat the Detroit Lions 34-31 and secure a spot in the Super Bowl.

The 49ers (14-5) tied the NFC championship game with 17 points in just eight minutes of the third quarter. They went on to secure a rematch against Kansas City, their Super Bowl opponent from four years ago, by pulling away in the fourth quarter.

San Francisco achieved a rare feat by making a comeback from a 17-point deficit in the conference championship game. This was made possible by key contributions from Purdy and costly errors from the Lions (14-6), such as failing to convert on two fourth downs in field-goal range. Unfortunately, Detroit’s dream of making it to their first ever Super Bowl was not realized.

“We played as bad of a first half as we could, but we were still within 17. There’s plenty of points there you can make up,” Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said. “The D shut them out there in the second half and this dude right next to me (Purdy) made it happen.”

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 last week and then had an even bigger comeback against the Lions.

Christian McCaffrey scored two touchdowns, while rarely used backup Elijah Mitchell also found the end zone with a 3-yard run, bringing the final score to 34-24 in favor of the Niners. This victory marks their overcoming of the conference title game hurdle, having lost in the previous two seasons.

“There has been lingering unresolved matters, my friend. Our team has been working towards this goal for quite some time,” stated Shanahan. “It’s been a challenging year to reach this moment, but we were able to accomplish it today. The beginning was tough, but with the strong character of our team and the caliber of our players, we are excited to head to Vegas.”

The San Francisco 49ers lost a 10-point advantage in the final quarter of the NFC championship match against the Los Angeles Rams two years ago. In last year’s title game against Philadelphia, they had to play without a functioning quarterback for most of the game after Purdy hurt his elbow on the first drive and fourth-stringer Josh Johnson suffered a concussion in the third quarter.

However, despite the difficult journey, San Francisco has successfully reached this stage and is now poised to secure the franchise’s sixth Super Bowl victory, matching the record, and the first since the 1994 season.

The Lions’ season, filled with magic, concluded in disappointment. Despite being the only team to participate in every Super Bowl era, they have yet to make it to the championship game. However, this year seemed promising as Detroit won two consecutive playoff matches, breaking a streak of 56 seasons with only one win.

However, the Lions were unable to complete the task despite having a 24-7 lead at halftime.

After scoring a field goal on the first drive of the second half, San Francisco experienced a complete turnaround in the game within just four minutes.

The coach of Detroit, Dan Campbell, made the decision to attempt a fourth-and-2 from the San Francisco 28 yard line. However, the pass from Jared Goff to Josh Reynolds was not caught, resulting in a turnover on downs.

After the Lions appeared to have a chance to intercept the ball, Purdy’s long throw hit Kindle Vildor in the mask, but it bounced up and was caught by Brandon Aiyuk for an impressive 51-yard gain. Purdy then connected with Aiyuk for a 6-yard touchdown three plays later.

Aiyuk stated that prior to the game, a ladybug had landed on his shoe. He then suggested that everyone is aware of the significance of this event, but he could not elaborate further.

Afterwards, Jahmyr Gibbs made a mistake and lost possession of the ball on the following play, leading to a 1-yard run by McCaffrey that resulted in a tied game at 24 points.

The situation only deteriorated for the Lions when Reynolds failed to catch another pass on third down, resulting in a punt. Although Detroit had an opportunity to down the ball at the 1-yard line, they made a mistake.

Purdy led the Niners to a 33-yard field goal by Jake Moody, giving them their first lead of the game.

Campbell bypassed a chance at a game-tying field goal on fourth-and-3 from the Niners 30 midway through the fourth quarter. Goff threw an incomplete pass and the Niners drove to the insurance touchdown.

Goff threw a touchdown to Jameson Williams with 56 seconds remaining in the game, but the 49ers were able to secure the onside kick and secure the victory. Goff’s final stats were 25 completions out of 41 attempts for 273 yards and one touchdown.

The highly praised front seven of San Francisco was unable to stop Detroit’s offensive line in the first half. Despite their efforts, the offensive line consistently created large openings, allowing the running backs to gain several yards before being tackled.

In the first half, the Lions rushed for a total of 148 yards. Williams, David Montgomery, and Gibbs each scored a touchdown run.

In the conference title game, Michael Badgley’s late field goal extended Detroit’s lead to 24-7 at halftime, matching the second-highest scoring performance by a visiting team since the NFL and AFL joined together.

Source: wralsportsfan.com