49ers rally from 17-point deficit against Lions to lift NFC Champonship and advance to Super Bowl LVIII
Christian McCaffrey rushed for 90 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-tying score, as the 49ers rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit to defeat the Detroit Lions 34-31 in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday in Santa Clara, California.
The result sends San Francisco, the conference's top seed, to Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII on February 11 against Kansas City, which defeated Baltimore 17-10 earlier Sunday. The game will be a rematch of Super Bowl LIV, which the Chiefs won 31-20.
"Unfinished business for a while, man," 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan told FOX during a postgame interview. "This team has been set up for this point. Today was hard at the start but this team got it done."
The 49ers scored on their first five possessions of the second half, taking the lead for good with Jake Moody's 33-yard field goal with 9:52 remaining to make it 27-24.
After Detroit missed a 47-yard field goal and failed a fourth-and-3 from the San Francisco 30, the 49ers sealed the victory with Elijah Mitchell's 3-yard touchdown run with 3:02 remaining.
With 56 seconds remaining, Jared Goff hit Jameson Williams for a 3-yard touchdown pass, but a Detroit penalty on the onside kick sealed the win.
"It's hard when you lose that way. It's hard," Lions coach Dan Campbell said. "You feel like you get your heart ripped out. But I'm proud of that group, and I'll go anywhere with that group."
Brock Purdy completed 20 of 31 passes for 267 yards, a touchdown, and an interception for San Francisco. Goff finished 25 of 41 for 273 yards and a touchdown for the Lions, who were attempting to reach their first Super Bowl.
49ers' Brandon Aiyuk caught an improbable 51-yard reception in the third quarter after Purdy's deep pass bounced off a Detroit defender's facemask. Three plays later, Aiyuk scored a 6-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 24-17.
Jahmyr Gibbs fumbled on Detroit's next play from scrimmage, and San Francisco quickly tied the game with McCaffrey's 1-yard plunge.
Detroit wasted little time putting its mark on the first half. Less than two minutes into the game, the Lions led 7-0 after Williams ran 42 yards for a touchdown. After Moody missed a 48-yard field goal attempt, the Lions made it 14-0 with a 1-yard run by David Montgomery at 2:34 in the first quarter.
71 seconds into the second quarter, McCaffrey scored for San Francisco on a 2-yard run. However, the Lions answered with Gibbs' 15-yard touchdown run with 5:54 remaining in the first half, five plays after Purdy threw an ugly interception over the middle to Malcolm Rodriguez.
Detroit capped a nearly flawless half with its fourth score in five possessions, a 21-yard field goal by Michael Badgley with seven seconds left to give it a 24-7 lead at halftime. Badgley's kick completed a 17-play, 68-yard drive.
Despite the daunting deficit and the Lions' ability to march up and down the field at will, 49ers players remained optimistic that they could rally.
"We just wanted to play our ball, the ball that we know how," Aiyuk said. "In the first half, we didn't do that at all."
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