By Wes Long | Published | No Comments
The San Francisco 49ers are heading to Las Vegas to take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII, after defeating the Detroit Lions 34-31 on Sunday night.
Super Bowl LVIII will be a rematch of Super Bowl LIV (2019), in which the Kansas City Chiefs prevailed 31-20 over the 49ers.
It looked for most of the NFC Championship game that the 49ers season would end on their home field at Levis Stadium – in Santa Clara, California. The 49ers fell behind 24-7 at the half, with the Lions offense looking dominant.
The Lions took an early 7-0 lead on their first possession of the game, when wide receiver Jameson Williams took an end and around hand off 42-yards for a touchdown. Detroit would make it 14-0 on their very next possession, when running back David Montgomery snuck through the middle of the 49ers defensive front for a 1-yard touchdown.
The 49ers would finally answer with their first touchdown on the next possession, when running back Christian McCaffrey took it 2-yards up the middle for his fist score of the game.
That cut Detroit’s lead to 14-7, at the end of the first quarter.
After 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy was intercepted on a deep pass over the middle intended for Debo Samual, the Lions would answer that turnover with their third touchdown of the game, when rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs slipped around the left corner of the 49ers defense for a nice 15-yard touchdown.
The Lions would add a field goal shortly before the half to take a 24-7 lead.
The 49ers would not go down without a fight though in the second half. After a nice drive by the 49ers offense to open the third quarter ended with a field goal, cutting the Lions lead to 24-10, Purdy would find wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk in the back of the end zone to pull the 49ers within one score of the Lions, 24-17.
After Jahmyr Gibbs fumbled deep in his own territory on the Lions ensuing drive, McCaffrey found the end zone on a 1-yard touchdown up the middle for his second score of the game.
That touchdown by the 49ers tied the game, 24-24 – late in the third quarter.
After a quick three and out by the Lions, the 49ers would grab their first lead of the game on a 33-yard field goal by Jake Moody.
The turning point of the game came on the Lions next possession. With Detroit finally able to move the ball for the first time in the second half. eventually reaching the 49ers 30-yard line, Detroit head coach Dan Campbell would make a questionable decision to go for it on 4th & 3, instead of kicking a field that could have tied the game.
Goff’s fourth down pass sailed out of reach of wide receiver Amon Ra St. Brown’s reach, and the Lions would turn the ball over on downs.
That decision by Campbell to not take the points, would come back to haunt the Lions.
Leading 27-24, and looking to put the game out of reach, the 49ers went 70-yards in seven plays, capped off by a 3-yard touchdown run by Elijah Mitchell.
That touchdown by the 49ers made the it a two score game, 34-24.
The Lions would finally find the end zone for the first time in the second half, when Goff connected with wide receiver Jameson Williams in the back of the end zone on a 3-yard touchdown pass to cut into the 49ers lead 34-31.
Unfortunately, the score came with just under a minute remaining in the game, and the only hope for the Lions getting the ball back would rest on a successful on-side kick. But the 49ers recovered the on-side kick, after a penalty on the Lions for illegal touching of the ball, as the kickoff did not travel the required 10-yards.
The 49ers were able to just barely run all of the remaining time off the clock, as they held onto to win 34-31 over the upstart Lions.
It was a classic NFC Championship game. The Lions proved to be very worthy contenders, falling just short of their ultimate goal. The 49ers, after watching last years NFC Championship game slip away on the road in Philadelphia, were determined not to have the same result this season at home. The 49ers rally, down 17 points at the half, was their second largest comeback in a conference championship game since 2012, when they overcame a 17 point deficit at the half against the Atlanta Falcons and went on to win 28-24.
Purdy finished the game 20 for 31, for 267-yards, one touchdown and one interception. Goff finished his night 25 for 41, for 273-yards and one touchdown.
The Lions will head off into the off-season with thoughts of what could have been had they not turned the ball over twice on downs inside makable field goal range, Campbell was known for being very aggressive on fourth downs all season long, but in the most important game of their season, his aggressiveness may have backfired.
Meanwhile, Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas is all set. The Kansas City Chiefs will take on the San Francisco 49ers on February 11, 2024.
