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The biggest halftime deficit in conference championship history was overcome by this 49ers team.
The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Detroit Lions 34–31, securing their spot in the Super Bowl once more. After falling behind 24-7 at the half, Brock Purdy and company pulled off an amazing comeback to win and advance to the championship round. San Francisco erased a 17-point deficit, which was the biggest halftime deficit overcome in a conference championship game and tied for the third-largest comeback in conference history.
The first half of the game was dominated by the Lions, but the latter two quarters of play seemed to go completely wrong. How did this come about? Let’s examine this.
Turnover on downs on the first possession of the second half
After starting the second half with the ball, the 49ers ran 50 yards on nine plays, and Jake Moody’s 43-yard field goal cut the margin to 14 points. Then the Lions offence marched all the way to the 49ers’ 28-yard line from their own 25-yard line. Dan Campbell was confronted with a fourth-and-two from field goal range. Jared Goff decided to go for it, but he was unable to establish a connection with Josh Reynolds. That gave the 49ers momentum.
An amazing catch and a missed opportunity
Purdy counted on star wideout Brandon Aiyuk to move the chains on the 49ers’ subsequent possession. Aiyuk’s 51-yard pickup was the result of an overthrow that rebounded off Kindle Vildor’s facemask and into his hands. Though the defensive back made a mistake, Aiyuk took advantage of it. This was probably an interception.
OH MY WORD!? Brandon Aiyuk are you kidding me??
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/JD6tw9M02f
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 29, 2024
With a little over five minutes left in the third quarter, Aiyuk brought the score down to seven points with a touchdown three plays later.
Purdy to Aiyuk and we’ve got a one-score game!
📺: #DETvsSF on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/iJp4M8GPng
— NFL (@NFL) January 29, 2024
Jahmyr Gibbs’ fumble
We quickly created a game for ourselves. And the 49ers had the ball back in the blink of an eye.
After Aiyuk’s touchdown, Gibbs coughed up the ball on the Lions’ opening play from scrimmage, and San Francisco recovered at Detroit’s 24-yard line.
FUMBLE! @49ers take over. What a turn of events.
📺: #DETvsSF on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/lrOuGisEIe
— NFL (@NFL) January 29, 2024
Christian McCaffrey’s second rushing touchdown four plays later tied the score at 24 all.
A drop on third down
Instead of getting back on track, the Lions offence settled for a three-and-out. Reynolds dropped a throw that looked to be a third-down conversion.
— follow @aryepulli (@Apullivids) January 29, 2024
Even worse, a wonderfully placed punt at the 1-yard line was mishandled by the Lions, resulting in a touchback. After going 65 yards on 11 plays, Moody kicked a 33-yard field goal to give the 49ers their first lead of the match.
A potential TD drop and another turnover on downs
Early in the fourth quarter, with a three-point deficit, the Lions offence entered the field once more. Jameson Williams dropped a touchdown-worthy pass on a first-and-10 deep down the right sideline after making an incredible 22-yard grab that nearly got intercepted off the fumble.
After three plays, the 49ers’ 30-yard line presented the Lions with a fourth-and-3 option. Campbell decided to go for it once more rather than try the field goal and maybe tie the game, but Goff was unable to connect with Amon-Ra St. Brown.
The 49ers then put together a seven-play, 70-yard drive that culminated in an Elijah Mitchell score to increase San Francisco’s advantage to 10 points.
A (poorly executed) TD drive
The Lions were behind 27-0 at this point in the second half. Detroit needed to get things done quickly with three minutes left in the game. While Goff did manage a 75-yard touchdown drive to cut the deficit to three points, the play was not flawless.
With 1:16 left on a first-and-goal play, Anthony Firkser chose to step out at the 1-yard line rather than score where he probably should have.
this dude ran himself out of bounds on this play pic.twitter.com/LdLiTsFldN
— Ben Gretch (@YardsPerGretch) January 29, 2024
The Lions carried the ball with David Montgomery on third-and-goal, but Montgomery was stuffed for a loss of two yards. With just one minute left, Detroit was forced to use its first timeout. On fourth-and-goal, Goff did connect with Williams for a 3-yard score, but the subsequent onside kick attempt was unsuccessful.
With Detroit down to two timeouts, the 49ers took over at the Lions’ 44-yard line, and it was game over.
The Lions defense fell apart
Let’s stand back and look more broadly at what transpired throughout the second half. After limiting San Francisco to just seven points in the first half, the Lions defence collapsed. Take a look at the 49ers’ drives in the second half alone, excluding the game-winning kneeldowns.
| DRIVE | RESULT |
|---|---|
| 9 plays, 50 yards | Field goal |
| 5 plays, 72 yards | Touchdown |
| 4 plays, 24 yards | Touchdown |
| 11 plays, 65 yards | Field goal |
| 7 plays, 70 yards | Touchdown |
Poor defence, dropped passes, erroneous play calls, and turnovers contributed to Detroit’s unfortunate 27-7 run. The Lions’ season was amazing all around, and winning the NFC Championship was a noteworthy accomplishment. This team is headed in the right direction, but the way the 2023 season concluded will hurt during the offseason.
