Before a stunning comeback victory, Kyle Shanahan had a very clear message at halftime.
At 24-7 at the half, the 49ers appeared to be out of the race against the Detroit Lions, but head coach Kyle Shanahan knew what to say on Sunday.
Shanahan informed the media that he reminded the team, “There’s plenty of time to recover,” and “Guys, it’s only 17 points.”Despite having a 12-5 record, winning the NFC West, and being the top seed in the standings, Shanahan stressed that “we’re not going out like this.”
In response, San Francisco scored 17 points in the third quarter to defeat the Lions 34–31 and tie the NFC Championship Game, sending them to the Super Bowl. Shanahan asked for “a lot more aggression” from the 49ers.
“The guys played like it in the second half, and we’re able to get the ball to bounce the right way, and we made up for what we didn’t in the first half,” Shanahan said. “The guys didn’t want to go home today.”
In the first half, Detroit controlled the center of the field and scored on a 42-yard touchdown run from wide out Jameson Williams. Following touchdown runs by running backs David Montgomery and Joshmyr Gibbs, the Lions tied the score twice before kicker Michael Badgley converted a 21-yard field goal to give them a 24-7 lead.
Shanahan remarked, “We knew they were a good running team going in.” However, we missed a few tackles and had a few players out of gaps, and that makes it difficult to win.However, the lads completed everything on time in the second half.
Up until Williams’ 3-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Jared Goff in the final minute, San Francisco’s defense had shut down the Lions in the second half. George Kittle, a tight end, caught the onside kick, allowing the 49ers to maintain the victory.
Following the Niners’ initial fourth-down stop of the Lions in the second half, 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk abruptly changed the game with a 51-yard reception from quarterback Brock Purdy. With a 6-yard touchdown pass from Purdy to Aiyuk, the Niners closed the gap to 24-17.
The way their offense was playing and the things their defense was doing to keep us off the field, we thought it would only be a matter of time before we could score some points. However, once B.A. made the play, it kind of unlocked it with such an explosive and kind of unlocked the whole team, Shanahan said. “That was really significant.”
“And then, with our players on our sideline, you could feel the entire momentum, and the stadium kind of flipped, so we felt it was on after that,” Shanahan continued.
Then, running back Christian McCaffrey punctuated the 4-play, 24-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown to tie the score at 24, and the 49ers pulled away in the fourth quarter with another field goal and a touchdown run by running back Elijah Mitchell for three yards. It sealed the 49ers’ first trip to the Super Bowl since 2020 and ended the Lions’ incredible season. “And right after that, you could feel the whole momentum with our players on our sideline, and the stadium kind of flipped, and we thought it was on after that,” Shanahan continued.
All we needed to do was start it,” Shanahan remarked.
For Heavy.com, Matthew Davis covers the NFL, concentrating on the San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has also covered Minnesota prep athletics since 2016 as a contributing writer for the StarTribune.Additional information on Matthew Davis
