Despite looking off-kilter for much of the game, quarterback Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers orchestrated a game-winning drive in the final minutes of Saturday's game to take a 24-21 victory over the Green Bay Packers, earning their fourth trip to the NFC Championship Game in the last five years, and the QB's second in his two NFL seasons.
The Niners settled down in the final 15 minutes, putting together a few key defensive stops and a pair of scoring drives to overcome the Packers' seven-point lead at the end of the third quarter.
It marked the first time San Francisco has won a game under head coach Kyle Shanahan when trailing by more than five points entering the fourth quarter, having lost the previous 31 instances, including playoffs.
An interception by Dre Greenlaw gave Purdy and the offense good field position on what ended up being a field goal to close the gap, and then a punt and missed field goal by the Packers opened the door for Purdy and the offense to drive down the field for a go-ahead touchdown.
Suddenly, Purdy looked every bit the dynamic quarterback he'd been throughout most of the season, leading his offense 69 yards in 12 plays, winding down the clock to just over a minute before Christian McCaffrey ran it in to take the lead. The Niners sealed the win with Greenlaw's second interception of the night.
"It's like, we had what we wanted right in front of us, so you have to clean the slate, you have to have a clean mind, and not try to force anything, take what the defense gives you, and find a way," Purdy said of the final scoring drive after the game.
After completing 53% of his passes leading into that possession, Purdy was 6-for-7 passing for 47 yards on the final drive, connecting with five different receivers in the process.
"Brock, he made some big plays in this game. Missed a couple, but leading us down on our last drive and getting the win, that's all I can ask for," Shanahan said.
Things had gotten off-track early in the contest, largely due to Purdy's apparent discomfort in the rainy conditions. He wore a glove on his throwing hand in the opening drive, but went without it for the rest of the game as the rain got lighter, though he could be seen wiping his hands off often, and acknowledged post-game that it was a factor in the multiple off-target attempts he made throughout the game.
"Yeah, there was some times where I was dropping back and the ball's a little wet from the grass, and yeah, sort of affected some accuracy and stuff," Purdy said. "But dude, that's football, so I've got to be better in that area."
Then Deebo Samuel left the game with a shoulder injury, leaving the Niners without the linchpin of their offense. They seemed to flounder a bit without him, similar to how they had when he was injured earlier this season, as Shanahan acknowledged post-game.
But with the game, and their season, on the line late in the contest, the whole squad buckled down, pulling out the win in a way which Shanahan acknowledged said a lot more about the makeup of his team than any blowout would.
"I thought that was as big of a mental challenge, just a character game, as any game I've been a part of," Shanahan said. "When things aren't going how you want on offense, defense, special teams, the rain, guys slipping a lot, losing Deebo early, having to change some things with that and just some of the mistakes we made, like it was a gut check for everybody, and couldn't be more proud of the people in there and how they persevered."
The 49ers will now return to the NFC Championship Game, looking to punch their ticket to Super Bowl LVIII, when they host either the Detroit Lions or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who face off on Sunday.
