30 January 2024 , 01:00
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San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy pinpointed a "huge" moment in their comeback against the Detroit Lions. He felt that his team's fourth down stop in the third quarter was a turning point in the NFC Championship Game.
The 49ers managed to overturn a 17-point deficit to dash the hopes of the Lions, joining the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. They had an impressive second half and clinched a late victory with a score of 34-31.
In the first half, Purdy struggled, completing less than half of his passes and throwing one touchdown and one interception. The Lions took advantage, leading 24-7 at halftime. However, the second half saw a different side of Purdy.
He came out strong, completing 13 of 16 passes and ending the game with 267 passing yards and 48 rushing yards. His combined yards of 315 are the most by a 49ers QB in a conference title game win, according to NFL Research.
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After the thrilling comeback, Purdy, who was dubbed 'Mr. Irrelevant' in the 2022 NFL Draft, praised the 49ers defense. He highlighted the crucial fourth down stop that sparked their comeback at the buzzing Levi's Stadium.
"It was huge," Purdy told NBCS. "Huge. Obviously, I feel like we were rolling from the drive we had as an offence, and then for our defence to get a stop like that you feel it in the whole stadium."
"Everyone's going crazy. And then for us, we just rolled from there."
The 49ers' performance saw a massive improvement after halftime, with Purdy leading the team to score 17 points in the third quarter while the Lions struggled. He shared that the locker room was quiet during the break before their comeback started.
Brock Purdy's second half performance inspired the 49ers to the Super Bowl (Getty Images)"It's tough being down like that, obviously season's on the line but for us, it was just the first half... down 17 we still had a whole half to play," Purdy confessed.
"We went into the locker room and knew we had to take advantage of every single drive - no hiccups or anything. Defence do your job. Offence, just put up points as we needed momentum. We found a way to do that."
Purdy added: "There wasn't really much said - Fred [Warner] said some stuff, but other than that everyone knew what we were gotta do so we came out and did that. [We] found a way; we knew it was gonna be a tight game all the way until the end and sure enough we found a way."
The Chiefs are set to go head-to-head with the 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII. This is a repeat of Super Bowl LIV, where Patrick Mahomes led Kansas City to an impressive 31-20 win. The big game will take place on Sunday, Feb. 11.
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