it was the kind of tense, thrilling victory that had escaped the 49ers, who had been leading the league, the entire season, and it came at the ideal moment.
With 1:07 remaining in the fourth quarter and their season on the line against the Green Bay Packers, Christian McCaffrey scored a 6-yard run for the 49ers, who went on to win 24-21 in the divisional playoff game on Saturday night at Levi’s Stadium.
With 34 seconds remaining, Dre Greenlaw intercepted Jordan Love, sealing the victory.
The 49ers (13-5) are one victory away from earning a spot in the Super Bowl for the third consecutive year. They will play the winner of Sunday’s divisional match between Tampa Bay (10-8) and Detroit (12-5) the following weekend to determine who will go to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.
The 49ers had won seven straight divisional round games; their last loss was against Tampa Bay, 31-6, after the 2002 campaign. They have lost the NFC Championship Game the past two seasons, 20-17 to the Los Angeles Rams in 2021 and 31-7 to Philadelphia in the previous season.
The 49ers are 7-11 in 18 championship games played since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970; they last prevailed 37-20 over the Packers following the 2019 campaign.
Before McCaffrey scored the game-winning touchdown, the 49ers scored on a 32-yard pass from Brock Purdy to George Kittle, a 39-yard run by McCaffrey, and a 52-yard field goal by Jake Moody.
After 12 plays and a 69-yard drive, the score took 5:11 off the
In addition to a two-point conversion, a 19-yard scoring pass from Jordan Love to Bo Melton, a 2-yard pass to Tucker Kraft, and two 29-yard field goals from Anders Carlson were all for Green Bay.
On the opening play of the fourth quarter, Moody’s 52-yard field goal brought the 49ers within 21-17. Greenlaw had earlier intercepted a poorly thrown Love pass that went off Kroft’s hand, setting up Moody’s opportunity. With that gift, the 49ers managed just 14 yards of driving, which must have seemed like a victory to the Packers.
With 7:39 remaining in the third quarter, McCaffrey flipped the momentum temporarily for Green Bay, capping a four-play, 75-yard drive in 1:48 to take a 14–13 lead.
McCaffrey was thrown the ball, cut back toward the middle, found the seam, and ran the length of the field to score the touchdown. The festivities didn’t last long. The next kickoff was recovered 73 yards by Keisean Nixon of Green Bay before being stripped by Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles; Eric Wilson of the Packers capitalized on the fumble.
Green Bay took a 21-14 lead as Love completed a 2-point conversion pass to Jones after setting up a 2-yard flip from Kraft.
When Moody’s 48-yard field goal attempt was blocked before halftime and the 49ers went three-and-out to start the third quarter, Shanahan’s fondness for “lapping” the opposition by scoring before halftime and again was put to the test. Colby Wooden of Green Bay blocked the kick in a play that appeared to be more of a masterful performance for Wooden than a subpar effort from Moody.
Worse, Green Bay responded with a 75-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown pass from Love to Melton for a distance of 19 yards, giving them a 13–7 lead. Melton broke free to his right just as Tashaun Gipson, the safety, was faltering.
The Packers are also in position to score thanks to a play in the secondary, as Ambry Thomas flagged Melton for a 41-yard gain to the 19. Not even on third-and-15.
At halftime, the scores were fairly level, the 49ers ahead by one point and the Packers having gained 153 yards compared to 174 for the 49ers. Love was 10 of 16 for 115 yards, and Purdy was 10 of 16 for 125 yards and a touchdown.
In any case, Green Bay did not appear to be a fatigued or outmatched club when playing the 49ers. The 49ers also realized at the end of the half that they would be without Deebo Samuel, who had left the blue tent after being evaluated for a concussion and then returned with a shoulder injury.
After the 49ers’ first touchdown drive, a 29-yard field goal by Carlson allowed Green Bay to close the gap to 7-6. During the drive, Love threw a great reverse-roll ball to Doubs for 22 yards to the 9 then Love blew coverage, allowing Jayden Reed to gain 27 yards on a pass.
With 8:42 remaining in the half, Purdy found Kittle for a 32-yard pass to give the 49ers their first lead, 7-3, after Greenlaw forced a fourth-and-1 stop at the 14-yard line.
On a third-and-five play, Purdy broke to Kittle’s right, giving him great lead-off yardage, giving Kittle outside leverage on Darnell Savage
After having the ball for 11:47 of the first quarter, coach Matt LaFleur decided to go for the first down instead of kicking another field goal, which put the Packers in position to extend their lead to 3-0. Love attempted a quarterback sneak with the help of his teammates’ pushes from behind, but he was just barely successful.
It set up a 12-play, 86-yard drive that Purdy salvaged with a crucial first down of 16 yards from Jauan Jennings in traffic.
After winning the toss and choosing to receive, Green Bay launched a 14-play, 58-yard drive to start the game—a move that head coach Matt LaFleur previously made in the team’s wild-card victory over Dallas. The first drive came to an abrupt halt at the 49ers’ 11-yard line when Charvarius Ward intercepted a third-down throw intended for Doubs, forcing Carlson to attempt a 29-yard field goal.
Aaron Banks had a false start, Purdy came dangerously close to intercepting, and Samuel was escorted to the blue tent for concussion monitoring during the 49ers’ disastrous opening possession. Purdy’s second pass, meant for Aiyuk, found Savage straight. Savage had a 64-yard pick-six in the team’s victory over Dallas the week before. Once more, Savage appeared to have space to run, but he lost the ball.
As if that weren’t enough, it came to an end when Kenny Clark and Preston Smith fired Purdy on a third-and-six play. However, the 49ers overcame that as well as a seven-point lead going into the fourth quarter to win their first comeback game in 31 attempts under Kyle Shanahan
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