For the second time in five years, the San Francisco 49ers are heading to the Super Bowl. After getting demolished by the Detroit Lions' offense in the first half, they secured a 17-point comeback in a 34-31 win that secured an NFC Championship.
Detroit led 24-7 at the end of the first half, and will rue an out-of-character attempt to kick a field goal instead of going for the touchdown at that point.
It all changed coming out of the second half.
The 49ers wasted what seemed like a valuable chance for a touchdown thanks to a bad Brock Purdy miss of Jauan Jennings, though it wouldn't have been possible without a crazy, one-handed grab by Jennings to move the chains earlier in the drive.
A Jake Moody 43-yard field goal made it a 14-point game, but it felt like a Lions response was inevitable.
Detroit continued churning out yards, working their way down to the 49ers' 36-yard line. But after runs of 6, 7 and 5 yards from David Montgomery, the Lions opted for a pass on first down. They got it to a 4th-and-2 after a third-down run for a couple yards by Amon-Ra St. Brown.
That's where the game turned on a dime.
The 4th-and-2 attempt was a low, dropped ball by Josh Reynolds. That call from the Lions was far less egregious than the pass play that failed on first down. Before that third-down run to St. Brown, they were running for 6.92 yards per carry.
Then the 49ers mounted a rapid-fire comeback that had no business going down the way it did. After a 17-yard opener to Deebo Samuel, Purdy and the 49ers quite literally had their prayers answered.
Purdy launched a 50-50 ball to Aiyuk that should clearly have been intercepted by Kindle Vildor. Instead, it bounced off his helmet and Aiyuk pounced on it. What should have been a second Purdy interception became a 51-yarder down to the Lions' 4-yard line.
After a loss of 2 for McCaffrey and an incompletion to Aiyuk, Purdy went back to Aiyuk, splitting coverage for a touchdown.
But could they get a stop, after getting just two all game? Yes, and in heroic fashion.
On an inside handoff to Jahmyr Gibbs, not the power back, Montgomery, the 49ers got their long-needed turnover. Tashaun Gipson Sr. came storming up the middle and jarred the ball loose. It popped right into the arms of Arik Armstead.
After a loss of one on a screen to Kittle, Purdy began enacting magic.
He surveyed the field, saw nothing then scrambled for 21 yards. Two plays later, McCaffrey tied the game. All of that took 2:20.
The defense, after looking completely lost in the first half, managed another stop. Chase Young, who was terrible in the run game, got a first down stop on Montgomery. Then Gipson Sr. crunched Sam LaPorta on what would have been a clear first down.
And on third down? A drop from Reynolds, who was open for a first down. It forced a punt.
Purdy continued to pull rabbits out of hats. The drive began with what should have been a sack. Instead, Purdy ducked, rolled left, and found a toe-tapping Kyle Juszczyk for a first down.
After a couple chunk runs from McCaffrey, a 28-yard reception from George Kittle got the 49ers inside Lions territory. Two plays later, Purdy went a-scrambling yet again, this time to the Detroit 13.
Detroit's pressure eventually got to him, though. The 49ers settled for a 33-yard field goal from Moody to take the lead at 27-24.
The Lions had a chance to respond, and it seemed like they might. But it came down to another fourth down, this time at the 49ers' 30-yard line. Dan Campbell opted to go for it on 4th-and-3. Goff, who started to look lost under pressure, couldn't find anyone.
Campbell, who didn't go for the 4th-and-3 to end the half, missed a pair of fourth-down conversions in the second half.
That set up a(nother) drive of Purdy's life. San Francisco worked to a 3rd-and-4 at the Detroit 49 with 4:42 remaining. The game was teetering on a knife's edge, setting up for a Lions response.
Instead, once again, Purdy scrambled. He took it down to the Detroit 28-yard line. Shots panned to his family, and his teammates, Aiyuk especially, screaming out of joy in his face.
The next play, McCaffrey rumbled for 25 yards to the Lions' 3-yard line. And with his first touch of the game, Elijah Mitchell punched in the touchdown to put the 49ers up 34-24.
The Lions responded with a touchdown, but burned a timeout and had to lean on an onside kick to try and get the ball back with 56 seconds left. Even that was sketchy, with the ball bouncing off of Chris Conley, but angling into the arms of George Kittle to secure the win. It would have been an illegal touching, anyway.
They had to run a few plays to burn time, but even that got done. A kneel from Purdy concluded it.
It was a 17-point comeback that happened in the blink of an eye, after it seemed like the 49ers may never be able to get a stop.
After a season in which the 49ers never completed a comeback, they have now completed two-straight when it's mattered most. Purdy has been at the center of them, with heroic drives that most expected he wouldn't be able to complete.
The win allowed the 49ers to avoid historically depressing company along with the 1973-75 Oakland Raiders, the 1980-82 Dallas Cowboys, and the 2000-03 Philadelphia Eagles as the only teams to lose three-straight conference championship games.
Instead, they return to the Super Bowl for a rematch with the Kansas City Chiefs. The main difference? It's Brock Purdy instead of Jimmy Garoppolo at the helm.