The 49ers are heading back to the Super Bowl after beating the Lions 34-31 in the NFC Championship Game Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
Brock Purdy went 20-for-31 passing for 267 yards to help engineer a massive second-half comeback from a 24-7 halftime deficit. He completed one touchdown pass to Brandon Aiyuk and threw and threw an interception.
Christian McCaffrey ran 20 times for 90 yards and two short touchdowns. Deebo Samuel led the 49ers with eight catches for 89 yards.
The defense came up big, stopping the Lions twice on fourth downs in the second half and scoring touchdowns on both ensuing drives.
Here is what the 49ers’ leaders said after the game.
Kyle Shanahan
At media podium
Question: What was the mentality at halftime to come back?
KYLE SHANAHAN: It was nice we were starting out with the ball on the third, so it gave us some hope in that way. Also it being a 17-point game was encouraging. It looked like it should have been worse. Definitely how it felt. That is how the numbers looked.
But we were only down 17, which that’s not too much. But you got to start playing a lot better in order for that not to be too much. Came out in the third quarter, we finished with a field goal. I definitely thought that wasn’t enough, but then I think our D stopped them on a fourth down the next time, they we got a touchdown. The next drive I want to say was the turnover. Just like that, it was three drives. I think by the end of the third it was a tied game. All right, first quarter again, but it’s the fourth, let’s start.
Question: How did the 51-yard pass to Aiyuk unfold?
KYLE SHANAHAN: I mean, they had a safety sitting in the middle of the field. Brock did an awesome job recognizing it. We had Deebo on a crossing route. That safety cut it. Brock made the right read and just launched it.
The corner did an awesome job staying on top. The safety cuts, that means there’s no one in the middle, but the corner was aware of it so he stayed on top. I was worried for it to be a pick when it’s like that.
Brock makes the right read, but he launches it. BA did a hell after job going up for it, so it wasn’t going to be a pick. Then he came down with the catch, which was huge. I was never able to see if he was down or not. They said he was. Great we punched it in later.
Q.What did that play do for you guys?
KYLE SHANAHAN: I mean, anytime you get a big, explosive one like that, it makes it a lot easier. We felt we could go on drives, we just had to get it going. I think we had four in the first half. I want to say we scored on two of them, had a pick on one, then punted on the other.
Credit to their defense. They mix things up, they play really hard. We thought if we could get it going, make it a game on both sides, it would be a matter of time before we could score some points.
The way their offense was going, their defense was doing a couple things to get us off the field. Once BA made that play, kind of unlocked it with such an explosive. Kind of unlocked the whole team. Right after getting that turnover… That was huge. Right after that, you could feel the whole momentum with our players, the stadium, on the sideline kind of flip. Felt it was on after that.
Q.What did they do so hard in the first half to stop the run?
KYLE SHANAHAN: We knew they were a good running team going in. It only takes a couple guys. We had a couple eight-man fronts. Definitely two I saw we got one guy out of a gap. When that happens, you get to that middle third player, that’s 15 at the best.
They had a real good call on the reverse. That was probably the best look they got us in. We had a couple missed tackles, a couple guys out of gaps. It’s hard to win like that.
But the guys tightened it up there in the second half and got it done.
Q.What adjustments did you want to make heading into the second half?
KYLE SHANAHAN: We just come up with eight plays to go over with the offense on how we’re going to start it out and go with them. The defense goes. They all meet and break up. They talk about all their stuff from positions.
Then we just pulled them up before. Guys, it’s only 17 points. Been a lot of football games where you’re down 17 points or starting with the ball. That’s plenty of time to come back, plenty of points to come back. Regardless of any of that stuff, we’re not going out like this. We got to be a lot more aggressive here in the second half in everything we do, offensively, defensively, special teams.
I thought we switched up a little bit more, tightened up on some things with some pressure, some man coverage. The guys didn’t want today to be the last day. We put ourselves in a hole, but they played like it in the second half and we were able to get the ball to bounce the right way and made up for what we did in the first half.
Q.Brock scrambling, how big of an impact was that for you guys?
KYLE SHANAHAN: I thought it was the difference between winning and losing. He made some big plays with his legs, getting out of the pocket, moving the chains on some first downs, some explosives. He competed his ass off today. Wasn’t easy of any of us. He kept grinding, was unbelievable there in the second half.
Q.You heard about how Kyle Shanahan always teams don’t come back, Brock Purdy can’t come back. Does that strike you now, that’s over in your mind?
KYLE SHANAHAN: I mean, that’s up to you guys to decide. I never thought that when it started. I mean, coached a long time. Guys play a long time. Get some of those circ*mstances.
I’ve never felt like we didn’t have a team who could come back or win a game like that. Just had to do it today when it mattered the most.
Q.What are your initial impressions, going to be going to the Super Bowl, playing the team that beat you there four years ago?
KYLE SHANAHAN: Haven’t had a lot of time to think about that. I didn’t watch any of their game. Wasn’t sure who won until someone told me right before we went out.
But, I mean, they’re a hell of a team. Got a hell of a coach, hell of a quarterback, hell of a defense. Haven’t gotten to see them much this year because we haven’t had a lot of crossover tape.
We already have a pretty good idea how it’s going to look. They’ve been doing it a while. Since we met them in ’19, seems like they’ve been there every year since. We have been trying really hard to get back to this moment. We have been close a number of times. This time we got it done. Spend these two weeks to prepare and make sure it’s a hell of a game.
Q.What was your message after the game to the team?
KYLE SHANAHAN: Not a very good one. I was exhausted (smiling). Took everyone so long to get in. Then it was really hard to talk because everyone had their families and kids in there. I struggle to talk when I can’t use all the words I want to use.
My message, I was just so proud of the guys. These last two weeks, we’ve had some talented teams, we do have a talented team right now, but just the character and the grit of the guys there. I mean, you could see it on their faces at halftime. I could see it on them all week.
Our guys got a lot of love for each other. Every year when the season’s over, it’s always a new team the next year regardless of how many people return. Our guys didn’t want this to be the last day. We had to really fight for it to make that happen, but we pulled it off. Couldn’t be more proud of the group.
Q.Brock isn’t known for his legs. Any element to surprise how productive he was with that?
KYLE SHANAHAN: I think Brock has been scrambling and making plays ever since we got him in. All you got to do is go back to the first game versus Miami. Brock makes a lot of plays with his legs. Did it in college, too. Makes a lot of off-schedules. I thought it looked like how Brock looks every time he plays.
Q.Was Christian okay at the end of the game there?
KYLE SHANAHAN: Yeah, he said he got a little bit of a stinger when he went down there. That’s what his words were. He had to come out for a play. I know Elijah went in there and scored. At the end I knew Christian was good to go back.
Q.How big was the a swing in momentum when you were able to stop them on that fourth and two?
KYLE SHANAHAN: It was huge. Both of them. To make it a three-score game, for us to be able to hold it to two scores, especially the way the game was going. I felt like we kind of blew it when we started out with the ball and didn’t get a touchdown, got three points.
For us to hold them there, not to get any points. You stop them on fourth down, really look at that almost the same as a turnover. That was huge by us today.
I mean, you live and die with that stuff. It would have been really hard to deal with it if they moved the chains on that fourth and two also, so… That’s why everything comes down to certain plays. What happens in those plays you got to live with.
Q.(Question about the play to BA.)
KYLE SHANAHAN: That definitely is the read. When the middle third safety cuts the high cross, that’s where the ball is supposed to go. Last time he did that was versus Arizona at home. I think it was week five or something. Did it again.
They cut, threw it to BA, but the corner was on top. BA went up, made a hell of a catch. That’s almost exactly what happened today, too. When they cut, usually the middle is open. The corner was disciplined, stayed on top. Couldn’t run by him. Brock read the defense, gave BA a shot, BA made it right.
Q.Were you shocked given the situation that he decided to go for it instead of opting for the field goals?
KYLE SHANAHAN: Not really. I think that’s how they’ve done it most of the year. I think that’s one of the reasons why they were here.
I mean, you win a lot of games making some of those decisions. You make some decisions and you lose ’em. I don’t think it always comes down to that. There’s lots of plays that happen in the game. That’s a decision we all have to make.
Doesn’t surprise me because he’s made a lot of those decisions throughout the year that have won a lot of games for them also.
Q.What was the sense you got from your players? Calm when you were down 17?
KYLE SHANAHAN: I think we were just pissed off. I think guys were extremely pissed. That first half wasn’t we were down by 17, it was the way we were down. They were kind of having their way in the run game. We weren’t getting much in our game run either. We don’t want to go out like that. We dug ourselves in a big hole.
Wasn’t just talking about how to win this game. I was talking about how to start playing right. We got too much respect for our team. That would have been a real rough way to end it if we couldn’t have played better with our group.
I was proud of the guys. They didn’t really care about anything but finding a way to win. You could see it on their faces, you could see it at halftime, you could see it in the third quarter, you could see it all the way to the end of the game.
Q.What are your thoughts on a Super Bowl rematch?
KYLE SHANAHAN: None. I’m excited that we’re going there. Happy for the Chiefs, too. Going to have a lot of fun tonight probably with my family and everything. Come in a little bit slow motion tomorrow, figure out all the Super Bowl tickets, all the traveling and stuff. That takes a lot of time for the players and their families.
Coaches will start getting to go on Kansas City whale they do all that. Probably give the guys a couple days off, then we’ll get to our game plan and practice by Wednesday or Thursday.
Q.Fred Warner has been good all year. Extraordinary game tonight. What are your thoughts?
KYLE SHANAHAN: I mean, Fred played to me like an NFL defensive MVP. He’s played at that level to me. He does every year. There’s always a group of guys who deserve it. But Fred is always one of those guys.
You hope when you have players like that, they do it in these type of games. Fred did. That’s one of the reasons we’re still playing.
Q.Why do you anticipate being in slow motion tomorrow morning?
KYLE SHANAHAN: Because you guys won’t let me get out of here (smiling).
No, I know guys are going to have some fun tonight. We do have two weeks. We’re going to have a meeting with all the ticket guys and stuff. We’ll put it off a little bit longer. Lots of families in there and stuff. Let guys sleep in a little bit for treatment, but we’ll still get our work done.
To Michael Strahan of Fox
On the turnaround:
We just seized the opportunities. We played as bad of a first half as we could, but we were still within 17. There was plenty of points there you can make up. We had to score on the first drive. We got a field goal, not a touchdown, which hurt. But then our guys got those turnovers, man, kept us rolling.
On unfinished business:
There’s been unfinished business for a while, man. Our team was set out for this for a long time to get to this point, and we got it done today. It was hard at the beginning but the character we have in our team, the type of guys we have… Can’t wait to get to Vegas, man.
Brock Purdy
At the media podium
Q.You made a number of plays scrambling. Most we’ve seen. Does that kind of define who you are as a player?
BROCK PURDY: Yeah, I mean, obviously my job is to distribute the ball to guys that are open. Then if something is not there, especially in this kind of game, you got to find a way.
I feel like throughout my life I’ve scrambled and stuff here and there. Since I’ve been here, I feel like I haven’t done it a whole lot. Obviously tonight, I was just trying to keep the chains moving, keep the ball moving forward, then obviously give our team some momentum and some juice.
I had to do it so I did it, yeah.
Q.What was your view of the BA catch and how it all unfolded? What did that do for you guys?
BROCK PURDY: Yeah, I mean, obviously to have an explosive play like that was huge in that moment. We needed it to get down the field pretty quick. We were still down I think two touchdowns.
In that moment it was, All right, here is a shot, an opportunity for BA. It was a single high. Safety didn’t get back or anything, sort of stayed flat-footed. Our offense in that play, you can expect your receiver to get on top and trust him.
The corner did a good job with actually staying on top, then tipped it up. BA did a great job with tracking the ball all the way and making a huge play for us, man. He’s a baller. That was clutch on his part.
Q.When you were down by so much at halftime, what was your message to the team?
BROCK PURDY: No one was rah-rah. No one was freaking out. It’s football. There’s a lot of experienced guys on this team, veterans that have been in crazy situations. Everyone was, All right, we just got to do our job straight up. Offense has to move the ball. We got to put up points, convert on third downs. Defense get some stops. That was about it. There wasn’t much said.
Kyle said a couple things. Fred said a couple things. We kept it simple. Went out. We all knew what we had to do. Season is on the line, down 17. Everybody stepped up. We played good, complementary team football from there.
Q.Could have been obviously an interception to BA. Do you consider the fine line of Purdy threw a horrible pass, Purdy threw the pass that changed the game?
BROCK PURDY: In that moment I’m looking at it like we need a play. I’m not going to be stupid and just throw the ball up. BA is one on one. I’m going to take that up. Especially in this kind of game, we need that kind of play.
Yeah, so people can say what they want. I was giving my guy a shot and it worked out.
Q.Last week, this week, you seem to do well with your backs against the wall. What does that say about the resiliency?
BROCK PURDY: It’s just character, man. The love, the brotherhood, it’s real. It’s the NFL. I guess you could say it’s a business. But guys care about each other in this locker room, what we’ve been through. We got a core group of guys that have been here for the last couple years. The standard and culture that they’ve built, the guys that Kyle and John brings in, everyone fits that mold.
It showed tonight in a huge moment. If you’re down 17, you got to care about each other, care about each other to get a comeback going. I think we showed that tonight. I’m really proud of this group.
Q.What happened on the interception?
BROCK PURDY: Yeah, stepped up, wasn’t the look that we really thought we were going to get. I went to try to rip one to Deebo over the middle. From what I can remember, there was a hand that hit my ball, the ball got tipped and floated up to the linebacker.
Q.Talk about celebrating with your teammates when the clock hit zero.
BROCK PURDY: It’s huge. Obviously just the feeling of redemption, coming back. It’s huge, man. For all of us, what we went through last year, this whole year has been crazy. You go through highs, you go through lows, this game the season is on the line, you’re down 17, then to see the clock hit zero and you’re up, it’s special to all of us.
Obviously we have one more job that’s not finished. I can’t tell you guys how proud I am of the team to fight.
Q.Did you feel the momentum start to shift when they went for it on fourth and two and didn’t make it?
BROCK PURDY: You could definitely feel it. Everybody knew we were all trying to get back into it. So when the defense got a stop like that, obviously the stadium erupted. Then everyone on offense, when we were jogging out there, All right, it’s our time, this is the momentum we’ve been looking for. Our team created that as a whole.
As an offense, we got to do our part and pick up the defense after they just got that stop. We all felt it.
Q.The way your season ended last year, what’s it like to be able to come out and perform like you did in an NFC Championship game?
BROCK PURDY: Yeah, I mean, obviously this was just like the next game up. You look back a year ago, got hurt, which sucks. You go through the whole rehab process, all of it. It’s been a long year, but at the same time it’s been pretty quick.
For me, I try to enjoy every single day, enjoy these guys, enjoy the wins, enjoy honestly the lows that come with it. You got to learn from that kind of stuff. Obviously to pull a comeback like that in the NFC Championship and play, it’s special for me.
Like I said, we still got one more to go. To have a performance like that, like we did as a team, was huge. We’re always going to remember that.
Q.Thoughts on the Chiefs, Mahomes?
BROCK PURDY: What a challenge. You got Mahomes, what he does, their team, they’re special. They’re winners. They’ve proven that over however many years he’s been there. For us to go back and play them is going to be sweet, special for all of us.
I wasn’t here obviously in ’19. You could just tell the guys that have been here, like, anybody, it would be special for them to play these guys. I’m excited to be a part of it.
Q.There was a flag there, did you immediately know that’s a catch?
BROCK PURDY: I’m sorry, what play?
Q.The deep throw, there was a flag. Did he catch it? Did you know that’s a catch or some confusion?
BROCK PURDY: Yeah, I saw the flag go up for sure. Then I heard the whole stadium erupt. I see BA curled up around the ball. Oh, my gosh, he caught that.
After that, we’re all jogging down. I’m like, dang. We’re all trying to figure out if he scored or not, got touched. When I saw him catch that, I was like that’s insane.
At the end of the day, like I said, I was just trying to give him an op, man. Huge play, one on one, we need a play, explosive. Here is one of our best receivers to go down and make a clutch play for us. So yeah…
Q.How did your personal journey over the last couple of years get you ready for this game but the second half in particular?
BROCK PURDY: Yeah, honestly I think it’s a testament to God, where he’s taken me in life. I’ve never been the biggest, fastest, strongest, any of that. I feel like I’ve always had to sort of fight for what I get, work for what I get.
But God’s always given me an opportunity, whether that was in high school, college, then obviously in the NFL. Getting drafted last, people overlook you, that kind of stuff. All you need is an opportunity, watch and see what he does. I put my faith and trust in Him. He’s gotten me to where I’m at.
When I’m down 17 at half, All right, God, you’ve taken me here, win or lose I’m going to glorify you. That’s my peace, that is the joy, steadfastness. That is where I get it from. That is the honest truth. I leaned into that. Sure enough, we were able to come back.
To Michael Strahan of Fox
On the comeback:
It’s a team sport. We knew we had a half left, defense did their job. The boys on offense took care of business, Coach called a great game and we had the Faithful behind us the whole way.
Brandon Aiyuk
At postgame media podium
On the ability to come back:
That’s back-to-back weeks with wins we weren’t supposed to have, apparently. That’s two gutty wins that show you the type of team we have, the mindset and the heart everybody has.
On his 51-yard catch:
It’s just bang bang. You don’t really realize until afterward even now, I finally just got to my phone, but in the moment, it’s football, whistle to whistle.
Upon further reviewing that replay:
Yeah, that was lit.
Scoring on third-and-goal from the 6:
I felt like I scored and looked to the sideline after that (51-yard) catch. Kyle was (waving me off). Deebo tried to pull me back into huddle. I was like, ‘That’s a touchdown.’ They came back to me and we got a touchdown.
On falling behind:
Credit to those guys, they came out and had a good plan. Credit to our guys in the second half figuring out how to get after them.
We felt in the first half we had a chance to get after them but we couldn’t stay on the field. The defense in the second half, they pretty much shut them out.
On NFC title games and getting over the hump:
Just a bunch of fun. So much fun. Our third time with this group of guys, some people’s fourth time. We were just working, working, working, praying, hoping for a breakthrough, and we got it today.
To Erin Andrews of Fox
On the comeback:
We just wanted to play our ball, play how we knew how. In the first half, we didn’t do that at all. Defense came out here in the second half, stood tall and they just played great. They just did a great job.
On his catch:
Before the game, a ladybug landed on my shoe, and y’all know what that means. That’s all I can say.
At the podium
Credit to those guys. They came out — I haven’t watched the tape yet, but they had a good plan coming out. And credit to our guys in the second half, figuring out how to get after those guys.
Christian McCaffrey
To Michael Strahan of Fox
On what it means to be going to the Super Bowl:
Man, it means the world.
George Kittle
To Michael Strahan of Fox
On going to the Super Bowl:
They had us in the first half, not gonna lie. But here we are now.
Deebo Samuel
On Brock’s running:
I don’t think too many people know how fast and loose Brock is until he gets to running. I think I kind of messed up on e of his touchdowns, trying to get a lead bloc. He ran right into me and kind of bounced off but I feel like if I would have made that block, he probably would have scored.
On whether there was concern:
I don’t think there was any concern. We just knew we had to go out here and do the second half and that was score points and the defense had to get off the field. Starting the third quarter off with three points, then Gip made a big play, we go score and it was a chain of events.
On getting emotional about breaking through to the Super Bowl:
“This is my fifth year and I’d been to one Super Bowl, and that was my rookie year. These past couple years, we fell short in the NFC Championship. Last year, we lose Brock, but the year before that, we just lose the game. We’re down 17 at half (this game), and it was like, ‘What will it take for us to get the win?’ And we went out there and did it.”
On reaching the Super Bowl:
“I don’t only just want to reach it. I want to win it. That’s the goal since the beginning of the year.”
On the 49ers defense with fourth-down stop:
“Our defense in the second half kind of was a shut out. Coach (Steve) Wilks came in at halftime, and Coach Kyle came in at halftime and were like, ‘Yo, it’s time to man up and get stops. And it’s time for the offense to do what we do.”
On if he saw Aiyuk’s wild catch:
No, I seen it live because I seen the guy cut the high cross that I was running and I just look up and Brock cut it loose. Then I see the DB drop the all and I’m just like, then I see Brandon catch it and I think we scored. … That was a crazy play he made.”
On Gardner-Johnson hitting him blind-side:
You gotta get me when I’m looking. That’s the only way you’re going to get me.
Nick Bosa
On halftime:
I was just trying to galvanize the group. There was so much football left. We can score really quick on offense. We just needed to get off the field so we could get our offense on.
On his faith in the team:
You just got to do your job and this defense is as talented as it gets.
On the first fourth-down stop:
I think that was a turning point. Just getting Goff off that spot, kind of making them uncomfortable back there. We knew we finally had a quarterback who was going to be on that spot often.
On the first half:
It was embarrassing. Kind of felt helpless and we didn’t want to go down as failures, and we know our defense is way too good to play like that.
On the halftime scene:
I was on the ground with a heat pack on my back just screaming random things. … I said “Just take that first read away and we’re getting home,” and our guys did it.
On the intensity of playoff football:
There’s not one moment where I feel comfortable out there.
On the difference between 2019 and this season:
We just kind of rolled in 2019 and I was a rookie so I didn’t know what was going on. I just thought this is how it goes. But the way we did it the past two weeks. I think there was a stat with Kyle not coming back after being down and I think it’s a testament to our group that we’re able to battle back.
On the stretch at the end of the season:
I think we weren’t playing our best ball toward the end there. I think we kind of got up for those big games that we really wanted to make a statement but there was a lot of holes in what we were doing and we weren’t executing great down the stretch.
On the crowd:
Were they pumping noise in there? I mean, before the game it felt like the New Orleans Superdome. For an outdoor stadium to be that loud … Honestly, I’m not paying attention to anything. When we score, I’m grabbing my helmet, taking some deep breaths, hitting the smelling salt and getting ready to go.
George Kittle
On making the Super Bowl:
A shot at the Chiefs, nothing really. 2019 was a while ago. They’re a very different team. A lot of the great, same players. You’ve got Chris Jones, Travis Kelce, (Patrick) Mahomes and Andy Reid, so they’re still really good and have their corps guys. I’ll worry about that game plan when the time comes.I’m very happy for this team, this organization, franchise to be back and get this opportunity because, losing NFC Championship Games two more times, it’s not very fun. You put an extra two weeks in and lose, and, ah, that stings.
On momentum ‘not being real’:
That’s just the biggest load of horsecrap I’ve ever heard in my entire life.
On the comeback:
In every opportunity that you have, in every circ*mstance, you have a choice: Am I going to back down or am I going to do something about it, and that’s the really cool thing about football.
On Purdy running with the ball:
Sick. Do it more. What are we doing? Just don’t get hit. Or slide and get 15-yard penalties. He scampers, is the best way to describe it. Ever seen one of those little water dragons run across the water? That’s what I envision every time he’s running with the football.
On getting behind and if they can win that way in the Super Bowl:
Would that be good for us? Probably not. I believe in this team to be able to win in any circ*mstance, and we proved it together tonight.
