SANTA CLARITA, Calif — Brock Purdy threw for 267 yards and a touchdown, and the San Francisco 49ers rallied from 17 points down at halftime to beat the Detroit Lions 34-31 on Sunday and reach the Super Bowl.
The 49ers (14-5) scored 17 points in an eight-minute span of the third quarter to tie the NFC championship game and then pulled away in the fourth quarter to earn a rematch against Kansas City after losing to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl four years ago.
San Francisco mounted the fourth comeback ever from 17 points down or more in a conference title game thanks to some big plays by Purdy and bad mistakes from the Lions (14-6), including two failed fourth downs in field-goal range. Detroit fell short of reaching the first Super Bowl in franchise history.
After being questioned about whether he could lead a comeback, Purdy has now done it twice in as many weeks. He engineered a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter to beat Green Bay last week and then had an even bigger comeback against the Lions.
Christian McCaffrey had two TD runs and little-used backup Elijah Mitchell scored on a 3-yard run to make it 34-24 with 3:02 to play as the Niners got over the conference title game hump after losing the past two seasons.
When did the Chiefs play the 49ers in the Super Bowl?
Super Bowl 58 will be a rematch of Super Bowl 54, which Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs won over Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49ers.
When was the last time the Chiefs were in the Super Bowl?
This year marked the sixth time in six seasons as a starter that Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs reached the AFC championship game.
Kansas City was in the Super Bowl just last year, beating the Philadelphia Eagles in a 38-35 come from behind victory.
When was the last time the 49ers were in the Super Bowl?
The San Francisco 49ers last appeared in the Super Bowl after the 2019-2020 football season, where they lost to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. They had led the game 20-10 entering the fourth quarter, but then allowed 21 points in the final seven minutes of the game.
The 49ers’ last Super Bowl victory came in Super Bowl 29. At that point the 49ers became the first team to win five Super Bowls.