(Santa Clara) Christian McCaffrey scored his second touchdown of the game with a six-yard run with 1:07 remaining and the 49ers of San Francisco made their first victorious comeback in the second half of the season to defeat the Green Bay Packers 24-21 on Saturday in the second round of the NFL playoffs.
The 49ers (13-5) were the first team in 13 campaigns to qualify for the playoffs without having to come from behind in the second half of a regular season game.
Brock Purdy and McCaffrey did just enough on their final possession to propel their team to the National Association final for the third straight year.
The 49ers will host next week the winners of the duel between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions, which will take place on Sunday.
Purdy completed six of seven passes for 47 yards on the decisive offensive drive, getting the first play on third down by connecting with Brandon Aiyuk and then Chris Conley for 17 yards.
McCaffrey put the finishing touches with a run and the 49 defenseers did the rest of the work. DD Greenlaw notably made his second interception at the expense of Jordan Love and the Wisconsin club suffered a fifth defeat in a row against their rivals from California in the playoffs.
Love’s final throw was one of his rare errors. He gave the Packers the lead with two touchdown passes in the third quarter. His first full season as a starter in place of Aaron Rodgers still ended in disappointing fashion.
Love forced the 49ers to play catch-up football by finding Bo Melton late alone for a 19-yard touchdown.
The 49ers then regained the lead, but Keisean Nixon had a 73-yard punt return that he fumbled, but teammate Eric Wilson recovered the ball. Four plays later, Love completed a two-yard pass to Tyler Kraft to make it 21-14 with a two-point conversion.