SANTA CLARA, Calif. — There are the months of preparation, film study, game planning, injuries, pain, work and sacrifice. All of this is essential if you want to reach the Super Bowl. But sometimes, even after all that, you still need a fun-shaped ball to bounce your way around.
“Obviously, no one wins without a little luck,” San Francisco 49ers left tackle Trent Williams said in the locker room, a couple of hours after his team's 34-31 comeback victory over the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship Game. “Tonight was our time to get it.”
The discussion revolved around a key third-quarter play: Brandon Aiyuk's 51-yard reception of a Brock Purdy throw that had every right to be an interception, but instead became the play that changed fortunes. of the 49ers. There were 6:29 left on the clock in the third quarter and the Lions led the 49ers 24-10. Moments earlier, San Francisco had stopped Detroit on fourth-and-2 from the Niners' 28-yard line. That seemed like a turning point, but the Niners still needed to make a big play or two on offense to capitalize.
A 17-yard pass to receiver Deebo Samuel moved the ball to the Niners' 45-yard line. Purdy lined up with the shotgun and called for the center. All along the field, he watched the play unfold the way he wanted. Safety CJ Gardner-Johnson picked up Samuel on a crossing route, leaving Aiyuk one-on-one with cornerback Kindle Vildor. That, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan would later explain, meant Purdy was supposed to throw it downfield to Aiyuk.
“Do we need an explosive play and BA is one on one? I'll take that [opportunity]”Purdy said. “I was giving my boy a chance.”
What San Francisco didn't count on was how well Vildor would cover, as the 2020 fifth-rounder stayed between Aiyuk and the goal line, putting himself in position to make an interception. But when he reached back to catch the ball, he fell and the ball hit him in the chest and he jumped into the air again.
“I was surprised,” Aiyuk said. “I felt the look before, before the center, and that I had the opportunity to receive the ball, but he stayed up. I don't even know.”
However, being surprised did not cost Aiyuk. He saw the ball bounce in the air in front of the defender, lunged and caught it himself at the 4-yard line. Most of his team was about 50 yards upfield, so it was hard to tell what happened. A flag was down. Aiyuk had reached the end zone with the ball. Was it a penalty? Was it a touchdown? Was it really a trap? Could he have caught it?
“I saw the flag, but I couldn't see much,” Purdy said. “Then I heard the stadium explode and I thought, 'Oh my God, did you catch that?'”
“BA has had a tremendous season making crazy plays for us,” defensive lineman Arik Armstead said. “But that one was really wild.”
“Just how we intended it to look!” Tight end George Kittle was expressionless. “From the guy's mask to BA's hands, damn, Brock Purdy is good at football.”
1:07
Brandon Aiyuk follows amazing catch with TD
Brandon Aiyuk catches Brock Purdy's deflected pass from a Lions player and a few plays later scores a touchdown.
“What can you say?” Williams said with a big smile. “There's no amount of training, no amount of film watching that can prepare you to make a catch like that. That's just talent and will.”
The Niners scored a touchdown three plays later, Purdy to Aiyuk appropriately enough. The stadium was pulsating. A 17-point halftime deficit was cut to seven. The Niners started and on the Lions' first play of possession, running back Jahmyr Gibbs fumbled and Armstead recovered.
“Why do people in analytics say momentum isn't real?” Kittle asked the assembled media at his postgame press conference. “That's the most nonsense I've ever heard in my life.”
It was impossible to be in Levi's Stadium at that moment and not feel like something had changed. The Niners had the ball at the Detroit 24-yard line. Purdy threw one to Kittle on the first down that he lost a yard. Then, on second down, the pocket broke and Purdy took off, running 21 yards to the Lions' 4-yard line. It was the first of two 21-yard scrambles for Purdy: He had another on third-and-4 in the fourth quarter on the drive that ended up putting the 49ers up by 10 points with three minutes left. He hadn't had a 20-yard dash all season before Sunday.
“Brock is an athlete,” Williams said. “Obviously, his athletic ability is underrated. People don't look at him and think he could be dunking the ball and running with it like that. But he can do it. We see it in practice. He can run. So we needed him to run, and he ran. He's been making plays for us all year, and he's the reason we're in the Super Bowl.”
Sunday's third quarter could be an even bigger reason. After allowing 148 rushing yards, 18 first downs and 24 points in the first half, the 49ers entered the halftime locker room still feeling good about their situation. Shanahan said the feeling at halftime was, “We're not going to end like this,” and the players believed things would change.
Entering the postseason, the Niners were 0-30 under Shanahan when trailing by seven or more points entering the fourth quarter, according to ESPN Stats & Information. They broke that streak last week against the Green Bay Packers, scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter in the divisional round win. They were also 0-19 under Shanahan when trailing by 17 points or more in the second half. They took it this week. According to Elias Sports Bureau, the Niners joined the 1994 Chargers as the only teams with multiple second-half seven-point comebacks in the playoffs before reaching the Super Bowl. (That Chargers team lost to San Francisco in the Super Bowl.)
“We were actually confident,” Williams said. “Knowing that we were going to get the ball first, especially. The plays were there, we just weren't making them. We have Aiyuk, Deebo, we know they will eventually put their stamp on a game like this. Plus, [the Lions] They threw their best shots in the first half. Trick games, flea flickers, all that. “You knew eventually that would all slow down and we'd be fine.”
They were right. The Niners outscored the Lions 17-0 and outscored them 170 yards to 42 in the third quarter. But the Lions also turned the ball over and passed up key passes on third and fourth downs.
“I just have to wait,” Williams said. “You play enough, you stick to your plan, you do it the right way and things eventually work out in your favor.”
And then, in Week 21 of the season, after everything you've done to put yourself in position to make the Super Bowl, a ball bounces off a defender and into your receiver's hands, and that's what it took. to receive a year's worth of work. The 49ers are back in the Super Bowl for the second time in five seasons, and it took a little bit of everything in an epic and unforgettable third quarter to get there.
