BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER
Brock Purdy led a 12 play, 69 yard fourth quarter scoring drive culminating in a touchdown run by Christian McCaffrey with a minute remaining to lift the 49ers to a hard fought 24-21 win over the Green Bay Packers Saturday night at Levi’s Stadium to secure a spot in the NFC Championship Game next weekend.
Showing signs of rust and the effects of a rainy night most of the game, San Francisco began their quest for an NFL record tying sixth Super Bowl trophy renewing their postseason rivalry with the Packers for a record tenth time, eventually overcoming adversity to advance to the Conference Championship Game for the third consecutive season.
McCaffrey’s second touchdown of the game, a six yard run with 1:07 remaining, allowed the Niners to erase a 21-14 Green Bay lead entering the fourth quarter. Purdy completed six of seven passes on the drive for 48 yards to complete the first game winning drive of his brief career.
Linebacker Dre Greenlaw’s interception of a Jordan Love pass with 52 seconds remaining, his second of the game, sealed the victory, the 49ers fifth consecutive postseason win against the Packers.
Green Bay opened the game with a 14 play drive that chewed up half of the first quarter leading to a Anders Carlson field goal. After San Francisco stopped the Packers on their second possession, Purdy gave the 49ers their first lead of the game by threading the needle on a 32 yard touchdown pass to George Kittle to culminate a 12 play, 86 yard drive that put the Niners on the board with a 7-3 lead midway thru the second quarter. A second field goal by Carlson cut the Green Bay deficit to one point at the half.
The Packers took their first possession of the second half and scored on a 19 yard touchdown pass from Love to Bo Melton, aided by a 41 yard pass interference penalty against the Niners Ambry Thomas on the previous play. San Francisco came right back on their next drive, only needing four plays to take it the length of the field highlighted by a 32 yard connection from Purdy to Kittle before McCaffrey broke free for a 39 yard touchdown run to put the 49ers back up 14-13 mid way thru the third quarter.
Lackluster special teams coverage led to a 73 yard kickoff return by the Packers Keisean Nixon, setting Green Bay up at the Niners 20 yard line. Three plays later Love found Tucker Kraft wide open in the right corner of the end zone for a touchdown. Love would then connect with Aaron Jones for a successful two point conversion to put the Packers up 21-14 in a scoring drive that only took two minutes, creating severe angst among 49er fans.
The teams exchanged possessions before San Francisco was able to capitalize on a 52 yard field goal by Jake Moody on the first play of the final quarter to cut the Packers lead to four. San Francisco’s defense tightened enough to hold the Packers scoreless on their next two possessions, benefiting from a missed 41 yard field goal attempt by Carlson, setting the stage for Purdy and Greenlaw’s heroics.
Purdy finished the game 23-39 for 252 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions while McCaffrey gained 98 yards on 17 carries with the two scores. Kittle was the Niners leading receiver with for reception for 81 yards while Jauan Jennings stepped up in Deebo Samuel’s absence (didn’t return after first quarter shoulder injury) with five catches for 61 yards.
A week after his near perfect performance against Dallas where he torched the Cowboys for three touchdowns, Jordan Love was a mere mortal at quarterback for Green Bay, going 21-34 for 194 yards with two touchdowns and two costly interceptions. Aaron Jones rushed for 108 yards on 18 carries, including a 53 yard burst with 9:37 remaining in the fourth quarter that threatened to help put the game out of reach for the Niners.
Asked how stressful it was with Green Bay controlling the pace of the game and it coming down to the final drive, Niners coach Kyle Shanahan opined, “We’ve been in the playoffs a number of times. You know what happens if you lose. We talked a lot about it last night and we know what’s on the line. Anytime you play a game that’s do or die, everyone knows what that it’s about, especially our guys. They’ve been through that a number of times in the last few years. We all know what that feels like when you don’t get it done and that’s on your mind throughout the week. That’s always on your mind during the game. But that’s why I’m so proud of the guys when it’s not going right and you know how big of a deal that is, you still got to perform. The guys did big time. Got the plays that we needed to win.”
With the win, the 49ers will now await the winner of tomorrow’s Bucs-Lions game in Detroit to determine their opponent next Sunday at Levis with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.
GAME NOTES:
San Francisco has advanced to the Conference Championship Game for the 17th time since 1980, the most in the NFL during that span.
The Niners have won 37 playoff games, tying them with the Packers and the New England Patriots for the most in NFL history.
Purdy became the fifth QB in NFL history to win a playoff game in each of his first two seasons, joining former QBs Joe Flacco, Ben Roethlisberger, Mark Sanchez and Russell Wilson.
Greenlaw’s two interceptions of Love was the first time that a 49ers player has two INTs in a playoff game since Eric Davis intercepted Cowboys Troy Aikman twice in the 1994 NFC Championship Game.
San Francisco entered the game 0-30 under coach Kyle Shanahan when trailing by seven or more points entering the fourth quarter.
