The 49ers and Packers Delivered the Most Dramatic Finish of the NFL Playoffs
Saturday night’s NFC divisional round playoff game between the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers went completely off the rails.
Turnovers, dropped passes and missed opportunities by both teams throughout the night left NFL fans on the edge of their seats with a trip to the conference championship on the line.
The weather was unrelenting, with a driving rain plaguing the offensive consistency for both teams all night. After a Packers drive stalled with 6:25 to play, Green Bay kicker Anders Carlson pulled a 41-yard field goal attempt wide left that would have pushed the Packers’ lead to 24–17.
Instead, San Francisco took over possession, and quarterback Brock Purdy went to work. Purdy struggled with gripping the football for most of the night, and seemed to be slightly out of sync with his receiving corps. However, on the final offensive drive of the night, the 49ers’ franchise quarterback came through.
Purdy completed six of his seven passing attempts for 47 yards, and star running back Christian McCaffrey completed the go-ahead scoring drive with a six-yard touchdown run. Purdy completed 23 of his 39 passes for 252 yards and one touchdown.
CMC FOR THE LEAD
— NFL (@NFL) January 21, 2024
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Clutching to a 24–21 lead, the 49ers desperately needed a stop. Green Bay retained all three of its timeouts while on defense, and had 1:07 to play as the offense began the drive.
After picking up a first down to the 36-yard line with 52 seconds left, quarterback Jordan Love was flushed from the pocket to his right, and threw back across his body to the middle of the field. He missed his intended receiver in Christian Watson and the pass was intercepted by San Francisco’s Dre Greenlaw.
INT NO. 2 FROM DRE GREENLAW!
— NFL (@NFL) January 21, 2024
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????: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/yDUx5ZutVa pic.twitter.com/m2bUwvM8TK
The interception sealed the win and a second consecutive trip to the NFC championship for the 49ers. They’ll await the winner of the Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
Here are some of the best reactions from the wild game between the 49ers and the Packers:
Niners had to win this game.
— Ross Tucker (@RossTuckerNFL) January 21, 2024
City of Detroit does not have the infrastructure to handle a home Conference Championship Game for the Lions against the Packers.
This loss stings. Packers future is bright but I gotta put my phone away tonight. This one hurts. I’ll talk about it tomorrow I just can’t tonight. Congrats niners fans.
— Matt Ramage (@mattramage) January 21, 2024
Niners over Packers was a fantastic watch.
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) January 21, 2024
Honestly, never had a higher opinion of Packers HC Matt LaFleur. To take this young roster, into that environment, and outplay SF for much of the game, was really impressive. Niners are stacked w some veteran, HOF talent. Green Bay should be excellent for years.
— Colin Cowherd (@ColinCowherd) January 21, 2024
What a game! What a life!
— Adam Schein (@AdamSchein) January 21, 2024
Awesome season of overachievement for Packers but what a brutal loss. Had it. Blew it. Rough stuff. Feel terrible for Packers fans.
Niners… still love em. Fortunate. Purdy huge when it mattered. Cmac a stud. Greenlaw huge. Capitalized on GB mistakes.