Mostert runs wild in NFC Championship win
SANTA CLARA – What a perfect way for the 49ers to commemorate the silver anniversary of their last Super Bowl win: they’re returning Feb. 2 to the same field in Miami, in search of another sterling silver Lombardi Trophy.
Sunday’s 37-20, NFC Championship win over the Green Bay Packers locked the 49ers into their Super Bowl LIV date with the AFCchampion Kansas City Chiefs.
Levi’s Stadium, in a banner Year 6 of existence, hosted quite the sendoff party for the top-seeded 49ers (15-3).
Offensively, Raheem Mostert became the only player in NFL playoff history to run for four touchdowns and over 200 yards. His 220 yards (29 carries) were second only to Eric Dickerson’s record of 248 yards for the 1985 Los Angeles Rams. Mostert benefited from absolutely dominant blocking while showcasing his elite vision and speed (21.87 mph on his first touchdown run).
Defensively, the 49ers posted a first-half shutout (27-0), and that was just enough to offset a second-half scoring surge from Aaron Rodgers, the Cal product who fell to 0-3 in playoff action against his childhood team.
Even the 49ers special teams looked championship caliber, highlighted by Robbie Gould’s 3-for-3 field goal attempts, starting with a 54yard boot that was his longest since 2015.
The No. 2-seed Packers, less than 24 hours after checking into their Menlo Park hotel, were flat from the outset. It was deja vu from
Nov. 24, when Green Bay fell behind 23-0 by halftime of a 37-8 rout by the host 49ers. Rodgers was 31-of-39 for 326 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Amid all the historical fallout from Sunday’s capturing of the George Halas Trophy, what matters most is a seventh trip to the Super Bowl. The 49ers were 5-0 on that stage until their 2012 team fell 3431 in Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans.
Now it’s on to Miami – specifically, Miami Gardens – and Hard Rock Stadium, which was known as Joe Robbie Stadium when the 49ers won Super Bowls there on Jan. 29, 1995 (over the San Diego Chargers, 49-26) and on Jan. 22, 1989 (over the Cincinnati Bengals, 22-16).
Here are Sunday’s highs and few lows that delivered the 49ers their latest Super Bowl berth:
STUDS
RB Raheem Mostert: His career-best outing threatened Eric Dickerson’s all-time playoff rushing record (248 yards), and his four touchdown runs were more scintillating one after the other, scoring on runs of 36, 9, 18 and 22 yards.
Mostert’s dashes through the Packers defense sparked memories of Colin Kaepernick’s runs in the 2012 season’s divisional playoffs; Kaepernick had 16 carries for a quarterback-record 181 yards and two touchdowns in that 45-31 rout of the Packers on Jan. 12, 2013 at Candlestick Park.
That 21.876 mph first scoring run was followed with a second score before halftime. Mostert followed Deebo Samuel’s block to the left corner on that touchdown, one snap after starting running back Tevin Coleman (shoulder) got carted off.
Mostert’s third touchdown run, an 18-yard untouched beauty, came 45 seconds before halftime, following Emmanuel Mostert’s interception of Aaron Rodgers. Touchdown No. 4 was Mostert’s most punishing, as he capped his 22-yard dash by leveling cornerback Tramon Williams.
WR Deebo Samuel: His 16yard, back-side reception opened the second series, and two snaps later, he bulldozed safety Darnell Savage at midfield on a 30-yard reception. Samuel again got the best of Savage on a block that sprung Mostert’s second touchdown for a 17-0 lead. After the Packers foiled the shutout bid, the 49ers responded with Samuel darting 32 yards to the Packers’ 22.
Pass rush: Nick Bosa, the NFL’S top rookie defender, got the first of three sacks on Rodgers, one snap after Bosa stopped an Aaron Jones run for no gain. Arik Armstead and K’waun Williams had the other sacks of Rodgers. Williams’ second-quarter, third-down blitz produced a strip-sack fumble, which the Packers recovered at the 9.
A 54-yard field goal to open the second quarter was the longest he’s made since 2015 with the Chicago Bears. he was 0-for-4 beyond 50 yards this regular season. Gould added a 27-yard field goal for a 20-0 lead just after the two-minute warning.
LB Dre Greenlaw: Greenlaw sure has a knack of making critical tackles. Their goal-line hero in Week 17 at Seattle, Greenlaw stopped the Packers’ opening drive when he tackled Jamaal Williams’ reception a yard short of a first down. A third-quarter ankle injury is not serious.
CBS Richard Sherman and Emmanuel Moseley: Sherman’s interception of Rodgers’ 55-yard heave toward Davante Adams with 1:42 remaining sparked the celebration. Starting in place of Ahkello Witherspoon, Moseley intercepted a Rodgers pass and returned it 8 yards to the Packers’ 30 with 1:01 until halftime.
His blocking prowess finally was paused so he could catch his first target in the fourth quarter, a 19yard pass after the Packers’ pulled within 34-20.
QB Jimmy Garoppolo: He was only 6-of-8 passing for 77 yards, but he converted a third-and-1 sneak and overall exuded the offensive command of a Super Bowl-bound QB.
DUDS
RB Tevin Coleman injury: The worst thing that happened to the 49ers in the first half was Coleman getting carted off with a shoulder injury in the second quarter. He had six carries for 21 yards to that point, after rushing 22 times for 105 yards and two touchdowns in the divisional-playoff win over the Vikings
Second-half defense: The Packers’ ability to pull within 34-20 midway through the fourth quarter was a reminder that the 49ers’ top-ranked pass defense is not perfect. And that’s just the reminder needed to next face the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes.
There would be no 7-0, quickstrike lead like last meeting’s opening possession on Nov. 24. This time, the 49ers debuted with three consecutive Coleman runs, and he got stuffed for no gain on a hurriedup, third-and-1 carry.
Christchurch native pens support