GREEN BAY, Wis. — On and on this dramatic 49ers’ season goes, from one elimination game to the next, with a spot now reserved for them in the NFC Championship Game.
They advanced Saturday night with a fourth-quarter comeback against the top-seeded Green Bay Packers, emerging with a 13-10 triumph in an epic, divisional playoff game further decorated by a dusting of snow at Lambeau Field.
After dramatically keeping their season alive with road wins over the Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys, the 49ers (12-7) improved to 4-0 in postseason action against Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Next up will be the winner of Sunday’s game (noon PT) between the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the visiting Los Angeles Rams.
How did the 49ers escape this time?
Officially, they won it on Robbie Gould’s 45-yard field goal, a drive keyed by Jimmy Garoppolo’s over-the-middle completions to George Kittle (12 yards) and Deebo Samuel (14 yards).
On third-and-7 from the Packers’ 38-yard line, after a 49ers’ timeout, Garoppolo took a shotgun snap with 1:03 left and handed the ball off to Samuel on a draw. Samuel churned to the 29-yard line, then hopped off the field, unable to put weight on his right foot.
The clock ticked under 30 seconds. Garoppolo got under center. Then Elijah Mitchell ran up the middle — a painful reminder of his failed fourth-and-1 run on the 49ers’ preceding drive from the Packers’ 19. So, with 0:13 on the clock, Garoppolo handed off again, and it was Kyle Juszczyk’s turn up the middle to the right hashmark, all in an effort to set up Gould’s winner.
What really saved the 49ers’ season, however, was the most unlikely of game-tying touchdowns. It was scored on special teams by rookie Talanoa Hufanga with 4:41 remaining. Hufanga scooped the football off the snow-covered grass, once Jordan Willis heroically blocked Corey Bojorquez’s punt.
Willis, despite a high ankle sprain last game, plowed through the Packers’ long snapper and extended his left hand up to block the punt.
That left Aaron Rodgers plenty of time for late-game magic, against a team he needed only 37 seconds to spare for a game-winning drive in the 49ers’ home opener in Week 3. Instead, that Packers drive was harmless, expiring once Rogers’ 45-yard heave toward Davante Adams fell incomplete with 3:33 remaining.
Once Gould’s field goal cleared through the uprights, it gave him a perfect 20-for-20 record on postseason field-goal attempts. It was the most clutch moment of his lengthy career and a game-winning kick that rivaled Adam Vinatieri’s for the 2001 New England Patriots.
The 49ers players and coaches celebrated by racing all over the Packers’ legendary field. Pandemonium.
Before Garoppolo walked off into the locker room, he turned to acknowledge the 49ers’ fans who made the trek — the same fans who surely cursed Garoppolo’s presence after he had a pass intercepted at the Packers’ 4-yard line just before halftime.
But a storybook finish made that a footnote, just as it did the four third-down sacks he endured, just as it did a failed fourth-and-1 run by Mitchell earlier in the fourth quarter.
The 49ers defense, which allowed an opening touchdown drive, proved resilient the game’s remainder, especially so in the final quarter. Arik Armstead’s third-down sack of Rodgers forced the Packers to settle for a 33-yard field goal and a 10-3 lead with 11:27 to go.
It was Samuel who sparked the 49ers’ second-half comeback bid. As snow flurries arrived, Samuel returned the second half’s kickoff 49 yards to midfield. He followed with four more touches (39 yards worth) to set up Gould’s 29-yard field goal and a 7-3 deficit. Stalling out that drive were two penalties in the red zone, Mitchell getting called for grabbing a facemask and then Trent Williams lining up in an illegal formation.
The 49ers trailed 7-0 at halftime, and it could have been much worse had their defense not rallied after the opening touchdown drive. More help came from Jimmie Ward blocking a field goal attempt as the first half expired.
That blocked kick couldn’t take the sting out of what happened earlier, specifically Garoppolo’s pass that got intercepted at the Packers’ 4-yard line by safety Adrian Amos with 56 seconds until halftime.
It’s at this point in the program where Garoppolo detractors will point out the 49ers entered 7-0 in games he doesn’t throw an interception.
The 49ers had reached the 9-yard line after a Garoppolo completion to Kittle, but then came a holding penalty on Williams, who earlier in the drive went in motion as a fullback and punishingly led the way for a Mitchell third-down conversion.
The 49ers had gone three-and-out on their earlier four possessions, which was a stark contrast to how the Packers opened by marching 69 yards (10 plays) en route to an A.J. Dillon touchdown run and 7-0 lead.
