MOSTERT’S A MONSTER FOR 49ERS
RB runs for 220 yards, 4 TDs in win vs. Packers
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — From the No. 2 pick in the draft to one of the last two teams standing.
Yes, it has been a remarkable turnaround for the Super Bowl-bound 49ers.
Raheem Mostert rushed for 220 yards and four touchdowns to make quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo mostly a spectator, Nick Bosa harassed Aaron Rodgers from the start and the 49ers beat the Packers 37-20 in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday.
The 49ers advanced to their first Super Bowl since the 2012 season and will play the Chiefs on Feb. 2 in Miami for the title.
‘‘Our team, it’s incredible to be a part of,’’ said Garoppolo, who was 6-for-8 for 77 yards. ‘‘We can win so many different ways. Raheem, those guys up front, the tight ends obviously were just dominating tonight. It was fun.’’
The 49ers won only 10 games in their first two seasons under coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch. They were 4-12 last season after Garoppolo went down with a seasonending knee injury in Week 3.
Now they are one of two teams remaining after delivering a second thorough beating of the season to Rodgers and the Packers. The 49ers, who routed the Packers 37-8 in the regular season, are the third team to make it to the Super Bowl a season after winning four games or fewer, joining the Bengals (1988) and the Rams (1999).
‘‘Right now, they are the gold standard in the NFC,’’ Packers coach Matt LaFleur said of the 49ers.
Mostert, a former special-teams standout, carried most of the offensive load for the 49ers to continue a remarkable redemption story. He was cut seven times and carried the ball only eight times in his first three seasons in the NFL.
But he has become a key member of the 49ers this season, leading them with 772 yards rushing in the regular season and delivering a performance for the ages in the NFC title game. He had the second-most rushing yards in a playoff game to Eric Dickerson’s 248 for the Rams on Jan. 4, 1986, and was the first player to rush for at least 200 yards and four touchdowns in a playoff game.
‘‘You know, honestly, I just woke up like it was any other game,’’ Mostert said. ‘‘It was one of those things where, hey, once we all get in a groove, we’re just going to keep it riding, keep it going. That’s what we did.’’
He got started when he burst 36 yards on a third-and-eight trap play to open the scoring on the 49ers’ second drive and kept ripping off long runs behind impressive blocking. He added touchdown runs of nine and 18 yards in the second quarter and had 160 yards rushing at the half. He then had a 22-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
‘‘It was working,’’ Shanahan said of the run-heavy approach. ‘‘If it’s working, you stay with it. Our guys are running as hard . . . as they’ve been all year. The guys fought hard as heck, and we were going to put it all in their hands.’’
The Packers trailed 27-0 at the half, and a big second half by Rodgers was too little, too late. He finished 31-for-39 for 326 yards and two touchdowns, but he also was intercepted twice, lost one of his three fumbles and was sacked three times.
Rodgers also broke Brett Favre’s franchise record for most touchdown passes in the playoffs with his 40th, but it was of little consolation in the Packers’ defeat.
‘‘We just weren’t very consistent the first half,’’ Rodgers said. ‘‘Made a couple of mistakes personally that hurt us and kind of let it get away from us.’’