The 49ers needed to regroup at halftime of Sunday's NFC Championship Game, and they did just that to rally for a 34-31 comeback victory over the Detroit Lions.
San Francisco scored 27 unanswered points in the second half to erase a 17-point deficit and earn the win, advancing to the franchise's eighth Super Bowl appearance and second in five seasons. After the game, quarterback Brock Purdy told NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco how the 49ers' locker room shifted its mindset at the half.
"It's tough, obviously, being down like that, season is on the line, but for all of us, it was like ... we still have a whole half to play," Purdy told Maiocco. "So we went to the locker room like, we've got to take advantage of every single drive, no hiccups or anything. Defense, do your job. Offense, put up points. We needed momentum, and we found a way to do that. ...
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"I think we all felt it, like, all right, this is it. We have to do something; we have to step up. There's nothing that's going to be given to us -- we have to go and take it, and so we all felt it ... We knew it was going to be a tight game all the way to the end. And sure enough, we found a way."
San Francisco did indeed find a way, courtesy of some clutch throws, receptions and fourth-down stops down the stretch. Purdy revealed that star linebacker Fred Warner shared some words with the team at halftime, and coach Kyle Shanahan had a message for the 49ers as well.
"... Said guys, it's only 17 points," Shanahan told reporters after the win. "But in a lot of football games where you're down 17 points and are starting with the ball, there's plenty of time to come back, plenty of points to come back. But regardless of any of that stuff, we're not going out like this.
San Francisco 49ers
"We got to be a lot more aggressive here in the second half and in everything we do -- offensively, defensively, special teams ... Guys didn't want today to be the last day, and we put ourselves in a hole, but they played like it in the second half and were able to get the ball to bounce the right way, and we made up for what we did in the first half."
It wasn't easy, but the 49ers got it done for an NFC Championship victory that will go down in NFL history. And next, they'll look to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11 at Allegiant Stadium -- hopefully through much simpler means than an improbable comeback.
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