Most fans would kill to see their team in 7 conference championship games and 3 Super Bowls in 13 seasons. For 49ers fans that reality has been a nightmare. On every bad loss for San Francisco since 2011:
An overtime loss in the Super Bowl where leads in the final two minutes of the game and in overtime were both not enough to secure a victory? Add it to the ever-increasing list of abysmal 49ers losses in recent history.
That’s the hard part about San Francisco’s 25-22 OT loss to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII – it’s a strange type of sports agony. It is undoubtedly present, but it has also been lingering since this stretch of rough finishes began in the 2011 season, so there’s also a numbing sensation that comes with the 49ers losing their final game of the year in a fashion that looks like it was conceived by some combination of NFL Films and the guy who created the Saw franchise.
Some would call 49ers fans lucky. There are teams like the Jets who haven’t been to the playoffs very often and then lost new quarterback Aaron Rodgers on the first drive of the year. Those fans would kill to see their team make as many deep playoff runs as 49ers fans have experienced over the last decade and change.
49ers fans probably feel something that’s the antithesis of lucky. Unlucky, some might call it.
Since the 2011 season the 49ers have been to seven NFC championship games – that’s 54 percent of the NFC title games in that stretch. They’ve also been to three Super Bowls – that’s 23 percent of those.
Almost every team and fan base would love that kind of postseason resume. For the 49ers though, all it amounts to is heartbreak, and it never ends in normal fashion where they just lose by a couple scores. It’s always gut-wrenching. Here’s a rundown of how each 49ers playoff run has ended since 2011:
Jones had zero tackles in the AFC championship but his presence opened lanes for his teammates to rattle Lamar Jackson. The San Francisco 49ers however are unlikely to abandon the running game the way the Baltimore Ravens did in the Super Bowl so Jones will need to be on his A-game.
Jones did record 10.5 sacks and seven stuffs through 16 games played this season and his leadership has given way for defensive end George Kalaftis to get lose. Identically, Kalaftis also recorded 10.5 sacks this season and was terrific in the AFC Championship.
With all this, I seriously doubt that Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan will omit running back Christian McCaffrey from the game-plan. The 49ers led the NFL with 4.8 rush yards per carry so Spagnuolo and the Chiefs better have an answer in SBLVIII. Jones needs to be the enforcer on gameday.
The Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night got in on the Northern California sports love action when they faced the Detroit Pistons at Golden 1 Center.
During the introduction of the Pistons’ starting lineup, the Kings in-game ops team played a highlight on repeat of Brandon Aiyuk’s diving 51-yard catch against the Detroit Lions that turned the tide of the NFC championship game at Levi’s Stadium a couple of weeks ago.
The Pistons fan in attendance was probably furious.
The Kings, who ended a 16-year playoff drought last season and are now the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference vying for another playoff trip this year, are trying to find the same type of sustained success the 49ers have had the last few years.
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Meanwhile the Pistons are in the earliest stages of a full rebuild and entered Wednesday night with an NBA-worst 6-43 record.
Perhaps Detroit fans get the last laugh in this one though since the Pistons’ 2004 championship is the most recent among any of the four teams involved in this bit of light trolling.
Ranking Brock Purdy’s five playoff starts for the #49ers:
Brock Purdy is gearing up to play in the Super Bowl to cap his first full season as an NFL starter. He’s been impressive in the regular season during his two years as a pro, amassing a 17-4 record and leading the 49ers to a pair of NFC West titles. He’s also notched a 4-1 postseason record after a massive comeback in the NFC championship game vs. the Lions.
So how good has Purdy been in the playoffs? And was the 17-point comeback in the NFC title game part of Purdy’s best playoff performance?
We dug through his five postseason starts and ranked them:
George Kittle called the #49ers big comeback, and couldn’t wait to get a joke off about it:
Sunday night during the NFC championship trophy presentation, 49ers tight end George Kittle stepped to the microphone and harkened back to an old viral internet video to illustrate his reaction to the team’s 17-point second-half comeback vs. the Detroit Lions.
“They had us in the first half, not gonna lie,” Kittle said through the Levi’s Stadium speakers in reference to a popular high school football interview that has more than 11 million views on YouTube.
The quote from high school football player Apollos Hester saying “they had us in the first half, I’m not gonna lie” has become a popular meme, and Kittle couldn’t wait to unleash it after a 49ers victory.
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NFL Films posted footage on Twitter of Kittle telling his teammates during the second quarter that he’d be using the quote when San Francisco came back to win. There’s also a great shot of Kittle encouraging quarterback Brock Purdy while the team was getting blown out early in the game.
"I can't wait to say 'they had us in the first half."'
Ideally the 49ers won’t fall behind in the Super Bowl the way they have in their first two playoff games, but rest assured if they do and come back to win, Kittle will be there with a joke to show for it.
Here are the plays that defined the 49ers’ incredible NFC championship game comeback over the Lions:
Somehow, someway, the 49ers pulled out a 34-31 win over the Lions in the NFC championship game.
Detroit led 24-7 at halftime and looked like the far more dominant team through the first 30 minutes. Then the wheels came off in the second half.
So, how did San Francisco manufacture a 17-point second-half comeback? We went through and found the nine plays that tipped, and continued tipping the game in the 49ers’ favor:
Dan Campbell made two big fourth-down decisions against the 49ers. But the analytics aren’t why the Lions lost the NFC Championship game.
NFL broadcasters talk about “analytics” all the time without understanding what that word means at any level. Generally, it’s done in a dismissive tone and with a sense of disappointment in how the game has changed — i.e., the nerds have taken over, and football is worse for it.
Not that it matters, but NFL coaches have employed analytical thinking in their in-game decision-making processes for decades. Coaches may describe it as “going with my gut,” but they also use probability and tendency to try and make the best choices possible.
In the case of Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell and his team’s 34-31 NFC Championship loss to the San Francisco 49ers, it’s Campbell who will feel the sting of the analytical naysayers all offseason long. The Lions had a 24-7 halftime lead, which they proceeded to blow in the second half. Now, the Lions’ improbable Super Bowl journey is nothing but a broken dream.
Two play calls are front of mind for most who are looking to assign blame for Detroit’s collapse. With 7:03 left in the third quarter, the Lions had the ball at the San Francisco 28-yard line. Instead of having kicker Michael Badgley attempt a 46-yard field goal to go up 27-10, the Lions went for it. Jared Goff attempted a 12-yard curl route to receiver Josh Reynolds, but Goff was pressured and threw the ball short.
And with 7:38 left in the game, the Lions had the ball at the San Francisco 30-yard line. This time, the decision instead of a 48-yard field goal try was to have Goff hit receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown on a deep crosser. Again, Goff was hurried, and again, the play didn’t work.
Now, most models favored going for it in those situations, or at least called it a relative push.
“I just felt really good about us converting and getting our momentum and not letting them play long ball,” Campbell said after the game. “They were bleeding the clock out. That’s what they do. And I wanted to get the upper hand back.And it’s easy hindsight, and I get it. I get that. But I don’t regret those decisions. And that’s hard. It’s hard because we didn’t come through. It wasn’t able to work out, but I don’t, I don’t.And I understand the scrutiny I’ll get. That’s part of the gig, man. But [it] just didn’t work out.”
My issue is not at all with the decision to go for it on those two plays. Badgley was an afterthought at kicker – he wasn’t active until Week 14 — and had attempted just one field goal of 40 or more yards this season. He made it in Week 17 against the Dallas Cowboys, but let’s stop pretending that those field goals would have been automatic. And outdoors, Badgley hadn’t made a field goal of 40 or more yards since the 2020 season.
And for the season, the Lions had converted 21 of 40 fourth-down attempts. This is who Campbell is, and this is who the Lions are.
“I loved them,” Goff said of the fourth-down decisions. “We’ve got to convert.”
My issue is with the play calls the Lions chose in those circumstances. Detroit’s run game had been dragging Steve Wilks’ 49ers defense up and down the field. For the game, Detroit ran the ball 29 times for 182 yards (a 6.3-yard average) and three touchdowns. On both of those conversion attempts, the 49ers’ desire to get after Goff would have left open gaps for Detroit’s running backs. David Montgomery had explosive running plays in this game of 14, 15 and 16 yards, which is about as consistent as you can get. This 16-yard run with 9:15 left in the game would have been pretty nifty a couple of minutes later.
On each of those runs, Goff was under center. Goff has been the NFL’s best under-center play-action passer this season, and by far the most prolific. Why would both of those conversion attempts have Goff in pistol, and the fourth-quarter attempt with Goff in empty? At least give the 49ers’ defense the possibility of a run in those situations.
So, before we chalk this all up to the alleged evils of analytics in football, we should consider that Campbell’s gambles weren’t wrong at all. It was the play calls that killed his team.
Looking at all the good and bad from the 49ers’ thrilling comeback win over the Lions in the NFC Championship game.
For the second straight week, the San Francisco 49ers used a thrilling second-half comeback to advance to the postseason. However, on Sunday, their comeback helped secure not only a win but also a ticket to the Super Bowl.
After a rough first half, the 49ers found themselves trailing by 17 points at halftime to the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship. However, a strong second-half performance from Brock Purdy, some drops from the Lions and questionable decisions from Dan Campbell, the 49ers surged to a fiery comeback on their way to a 34-31 win in the NFC championship.
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Before the 49ers prepare for their date with the Kansas City Chiefs in Las Vegas, here’s a look at all the good and bad from the 49ers’ 34-31 win over the Lions in the NFC championship.
Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to The Morning Win. Thanks so much for reading today. We appreciate you.
Let’s talk about the Lions, man. Because how do you not feel bad for Lions fans today?
I mean, seriously. Up 24-7 on the 49ers at the half and then San Francisco rattles off 27 straight points in the second half to ultimately win the game. That’s a tough way to go out, no matter who you are. But if you’re a fan who has never seen your favorite team go to the Super Bowl? After being so close? Yeah, man. I feel for you.
A lot of folks are blaming Dan Campbell for the loss this morning. And, well, yeah. I understand why.
Two critical fourth-down decisions in 49ers territory came in the second half. The Lions could’ve just kicked field goals on both. Instead, Campbell did what Campbell does and went for it on fourth down both times. Detroit also failed both times.
As Robert Zeglinski writes here, it was probably the more prudent decision to kick the field goal — especially in that second instance after the team completely squandered its 17-point lead. Now, everybody is roasting Campbell for his decision-making in that spot. Folks think he should’ve taken the points.
And, look, maybe they’re right. Maybe if the Lions have at least three more points on the board, the 49ers’ momentum is stifled. I’m not sure. Ultimately, we’ll never know.
But what we do know is this: Dan Campbell has been coaching this way all season long. Detroit had the second-most fourth-down conversions in the NFL this season. It’s part of Campbell’s philosophy. That’s how Detroit got here. You don’t just abandon that because things get a little tight.
Ultimately, those fourth downs aren’t what lost Detroit this game. It was the failure in execution from the Lions down the stretch that mattered most. Receivers dropped multiple passes that would’ve led to first downs and touchdowns. Jahmyr Gibbs’ fumble giving San Francisco a short field changed the game, too.
The Lions had a golden opportunity here and just simply lost the game. There are multiple things to point to as far as reasons why, but passing up on-field goals should be at the bottom of that list.
This stinks because, as Campbell pointed out, the whole “we’ll be back” thing doesn’t always come to fruition. Getting this far is hard. Detroit knows that — the team’s last championship game came in 1957. Nothing is guaranteed.
But, regardless of this result, the Lions Renaissance is here and it’s awesome. Never change, Dan Campbell.
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Football Jordan strikes again
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Speaking of devastating losses, Baltimore probably feels a bit worse than Detroit does today. Lamar Jackson’s first trip to the Super Bowl was right there, man. Patrick Mahomes just stood in the way.
“In arguably the toughest test of his already legendary career, Mahomes was perfect. He completed 13 of his first 14 passes. He kept the Ravens’ ferocious pass rush at bay by spamming low-risk but efficient short passes out to Kelce and the least-talented skill group he’s seen since becoming a starter in 2017. In a game manager performance where he didn’t eclipse 250 yards passing, Mahomes was the composed maestro, the man who wouldn’t dare give the other team an inch, let alone make any backbreaking mistake to capitalize on and flip the result on its head.
In this performance, Mahomes somehow took another step as a bona fide future First-Ballot Hall of Famer. This was him learning what it means to play within himself and steal away a road game to earn a fourth Super Bowl trip in six seasons. Sometimes, all this silly football hoopla amounts to is staying composed while letting the other team step on an unfathomable supply of rakes in defeat. It’s just that simple.”
It’s rare in football that you ever see one single player on one side of the ball so perfectly control a game. There are 22 men on the field at all times. That’s a hard thing to do. But Mahomes seems to be able to get it done every single time.
Folks are going to talk about Lamar Jackson a ton today. They’re going to question his “legacy” as a 27-year-old MVP. It’s all going to be ridiculous. I wouldn’t buy into a lick of it if I were you.
What we really need to be discussing is Patrick Mahomes’ greatness. Because we’ve never seen anything like this before.
Michigan finds its guy — again
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Jim Harbaugh is bolting for the Bolts in Los Angeles, so Michigan needed a new head coach once again. But the Wolverines have found the guy — he was there all along. Of course, it’s Sherrone Moore.
Michigan announced Moore’s hire over the weekend. He got the Harbaugh stamp of approval, too. “The only person I would want to do the job,” Harbaugh said. “I have 100% conviction that he will make us all very proud!!!”
I think this is what most people expected Michigan to do here. Of course, we’ve seen him in action. Moore took over for Harbaugh when he was suspended for four games earlier this season. Michigan went undefeated. Heck of a job interview, if I do say so myself.
This job will be a bit different, though. He coached Jim Harbaugh’s team during that suspension. Now, it’ll be his job to build his own. He’ll have to recruit and work the transfer portal. But Michigan seems to believe he’s up to it. So does Harbaugh himself.
