The 49ers, somehow, beat the Green Bay Packers 24-21 to head to their third-straight NFC Championship.
Here are 4 takeaways from the absurd win.
Purdy shaky, but comes through
That was Brock Purdy's worst game of the season. He was throwing scuds left and right, frequently missing easy passes on short balls.
It should also be stated that Kyle Shanahan, without Deebo Samuel, failed to come up with the requisite answers, and that the 49ers' offensive line was getting absolutely worked by the likes of Kenny Clark and Rashan Gary.
He just didn't have it, and to a certain extent, it never looked like he would.
But with a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter, Purdy came through. That was the one thing lacking on his resume.
Starting at their own 31-yard line, the 49ers matriculated the ball down the field with maximum anxiety.
In the red zone, Purdy delivered. On a 2nd-and-10 at the 15-yard line, he scrambled for nine yards. The next play, Christian McCaffrey punched in a game-winning touchdown.
Oh, and then Dre Greenlaw ended the game with his second heart attack-inducing interception returns of the season. In a game the 49ers had no business winning, they came from behind in a way that most people believed they wouldn't be able to.
Special teams MATTERS
If you did not read the pregame preview, let me refer you to the final section, entitled, "The Battle of the Rookie Kickers."
There, it was stated that both of these teams had inconsistent rookie kickers who had missed kicks in recent games. They also struggled on kickoffs, and both teams have explosive returners in Ray-Ray McCloud and Keisean Nixon. The latter was the league leader in return yardage.
So what happened? Moody had a 48-yard field goal that was blocked to end the first half.
And in the second half? Moody kicked off short to Nixon, who returned the ball for 73 yards. The Packers turned that into a touchdown and a two-point conversion.
That wasn't all. After a 53-yard gut-punch from Aaron Jones in the fourth quarter, the Packers had a chance to go up by a touchdown. Instead, Carlson who had not missed a kick from 41 yards or fewer all season, missed a 41-yard attempt. He pulled it, giving the 49ers a chance to win the game with a touchdown.
Ambry Thomas disasterclass
It's hard to understate just how poor Ambry Thomas played. His tackling was horrendous, which is to say that it was somehow better than his coverage.
When the Packers were on third down, it seemed like they consistently looked his way.
That's not hyperbole. Late in the third quarter, Jordan Love stared down Thomas, saw he had safety help, then went to the other side of the field for an incompletion. The very next play was a deflection-turned-interception for Dre Greenlaw.
But Thomas was the clear weak spot for San Francisco. He whiffed on tackles, both on a screen to Christian Watson, and on an outside run attempt from Aaron Jones.
He also got cooked by Romeo Doubs for a 22-yard conversion on third down.
But those were not his worst plays. Those were his brutal pass interference penalties. He had two, one of which was devastating.
The first came on a 3rd-and-6 at the 49ers' 26-yard line, again intended for Doubs. It moved the Packers to the 13-yard line, but a defensive stop set up a 29-yard Anders Carlson field goal.
His second was back-breaking. On a 3rd-and-15 from Green Bay's own 40-yard line, Jordan Love just hucked up a prayer to Bo Melton. Thomas just tackled him before the ball was close.
It was a 41-yard penalty that set up Green Bay at the 49ers' 19-yard line. The very next play, Tashaun Gipson Sr. lost his footing, and Melton scored a touchdown to put Green Bay back up by seven points.
To Thomas' credit, he made a crucial play on a second down in the early fourth quarter. He allowed a lot of space to Jayden Reed, but made a great tackle and closed quickly to ensure it was a 6-yard gain. The next play was a Packers incompletion, and their first 3-and-out of the game.
Lapping, who, exactly?
The last 4:09 of the first half and start of the second half were a complete embarrassment for the 49ers. Kyle Shanahan opted for a conservative approach that blew up in his face.
Shanahan has frequently stated that he strongly believes ending the first half with a score and receiving the ball to start the second half. In his view, as stated this week, you can "lap" your opponent with a half-ending score and a half-opening score.
He was dismissive when asked this week if he would consider receiving the ball to open the game, in order to counter the Packers' aggressive approach of receiving the kick, which worked against Dallas.
Earlier this year, Shanahan said that the No. 1 indicator of winning is turnovers. The No. 2 indicator? Scoring to end the first half.
But the 49ers did not do that. At the two-minute warning, San Francisco had the ball at their own 40-yard line with three timeouts.
They burned 33 seconds after a 9-yard gain by Christian McCaffrey, then eight seconds on another run by McCaffrey. But another run, ahead of a 3rd-and-2 at the Green Bay 43-yard line, didn't start until there were 34 seconds left on the clock.
They finished the drive in position for a 48-yard field goal attempt... in the rain... with a rookie kicker who missed his first extra point and first kick inside 40 yards to end the regular season.
The result? Karmic punishment in the form of a blocked field goal. It was punishment for Shanahan's approach and retribution for the ending of the 2021 NFC Divisional Round game between these two teams.
But despite one of his worst games of the season, Shanahan dialed up a game-winning drive to send the 49ers to another NFC Championship.