It wasn’t apparent the 49ers (-5.5) were ready to play against the Packers in a frigid Lambeau Field for most of early Saturday evening. This Divisional Round matchup saw almost everything but San Francisco’s very best. It wasn’t who the 49ers were.
A dropped touchdown pass from superstar tight end George Kittle. An errant throw from Jimmy Garoppolo, deep in the red zone, that the Packers picked off, taking all potential points off the board. An otherwise listless offense with no answer for a Green Bay defense that seemed to have not only the answer key but had to be cheating somewhere.
Perhaps most importantly, there was an obvious discomfort on the 49ers’ part when it came to playing, hitting, running, and, well, doing anything in the tundra. If you’re going to win in Green Bay, you might have to be prepared for such cold, but no one relayed that information to Garoppolo, Kittle, and company.
Isn’t football such a silly, beautiful, and romantic game? Did I say silly?
When push came to shove, it turned out that the 49ers were ready to play. The No. 1 seed Packers, a true titan, once destined to represent the NFC after a dream season in southeastern Wisconsin, try as they might, could not pull away from these pesky 49ers.
With the Packers punting deep from their own end late in the fourth quarter, that failure to put the 49ers away would prove fatal. In front of a raucous and hostile crowd, this was a moment that an underdog wouldn’t let slip away.
PUNT BLOCK TOUCHDOWN.
The @49ers have tied it! #NFLPlayoffs #FTTB
📺: #SFvsGB on FOX
📱: https://t.co/VWvPUv1xA7 pic.twitter.com/Cf55IHP2Rq— NFL (@NFL) January 23, 2022
What a euphoric, classic play for rookie special teamer/touchdown-scorer, Talanoa Hufanga. Try and Google his name and find any sort of biography when you read this sentence. Chances are, by the time you do, it’ll be all about this blocked punt soon enough.
An instant classic playoff moment in @49ers history. #FTTB #NFLPlayoffs
📺: #SFvsGB on FOX
📱: https://t.co/VWvPUv1xA7 pic.twitter.com/oWFD2C8Vy2— NFL (@NFL) January 23, 2022
But even still, this wasn’t about Hufanga alone, even if he’ll be etched into NFL history as a postseason legend. The blocked punt was a breath of life for the 49ers, who themselves suddenly had the wind of destiny in their sails. They, unlike the Packers, would seize their shot to knock their opponent and make sure they stayed down for the count.
After Green Bay quickly went three-and-out on the next possession, giving San Francisco the ball back with 3:20 to go and all three of their timeouts, it was time for the 49ers’ curtain call.
A 12-yard pass to George Kittle on first down to get the ball rolling.
A four-yard run from Elijah Mitchell.
A 14-yard pass knifed into the 49ers’ MVP, Deebo Samuel, who himself knifed his way through the Packers’ secondary.
But then San Francisco stalled. For a moment, the Packers might have had hope. The comeback attempt would fall short, the Green and Yellow Team of Destiny would soldier on, and the 49ers would be left licking their wounds, wondering where they went wrong.
In addition to being silly, football, above all, is a beyond cruel affair, as the Packers were reminded of yet again in a critical January game.
Deebo just put the team on his back. #FTTB #NFLPlayoffs
📺: #SFvsGB on FOX
📱: https://t.co/VWvPUv1xA7 pic.twitter.com/DnLdKLHy7L— NFL (@NFL) January 23, 2022
A bruising nine-yard run back to that very MVP in Samuel on third down and the 49ers deep in Packers’ territory with only four seconds left and Robbie Gould ready to bury the final dagger.
In a metaphorical sense, a common allusion is that you could hear a pin drop in a quiet, shocked sports stadium. But that wasn’t the case in Lambeau, with Green Bay’s season hanging in the balance. On this evening, after a topsy-turvy, stomach-turning final few minutes, not a soul, creature, or inanimate object was going to dare make a sound. This balloon was popped.
You couldn’t hear any noises aside from those made by the 49ers, and the aforementioned Gould.
GOULD IS GOOD.
THE @49ERS WIN IN LAMBEAU TO ADVANCE TO THE NFC CHAMPIONSHIP. #FTTB #NFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/7JouarMybq
— NFL (@NFL) January 23, 2022
A 43-yard stunner, where the Packers, inexplicably, only had 10 men on the field in another gaffe. An instant classic. And another notch in the playoff belt for Robbie Gould, who is now 19-of-19 all-time in his postseason career. This one, a 43-yard blade right through the Packers’ heart, might have been the best of them all.
The Packers will pick up the pieces, eventually, wondering how they could’ve had another crushing playoff defeat. Perhaps without Aaron Rodgers, an uncertain future might be in the cards. If that’s the case, most certainly expected this “Last Dance” would’ve at least ended with a championship. But the 49ers wouldn’t let that happen.
San Francisco is, somehow, on to the NFC Championship Game, where they’ll play the winner of Rams-Buccaneers. After Saturday night’s all-time, late-game heroics, you could forgive them if they said they weren’t afraid of either.
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