IN YOUR FACE(MASK)!
Aiyuk's wild circus catch sparks 49ers' comeback to top Lions, advance to Super Bowl
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Sometimes, all it takes is one play.
One break.
The 49ers were lost. They were stunned. They were getting punched in the face by the Lions.
Their season of such promise, one that earned them the No. 1 playoff seed and home field throughout the NFC playoffs with only one goal in mind — a Super Bowl berth — was on life support in Sunday’s NFC Championship game at Levi’s Stadium.
The upstart Lions — America’s Team seeking the first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history and first road playoff win in 66 years — were in the process of boat-racing the favored 49ers on their turf.
The 49ers had snipped a 24-7 halftime lead to 24-10 with a Jake Moody field goal on their first possession of the second half. Even at that moment, though, that seemed like mere window dressing.
But now, on the next San Francisco possession, there was 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy heaving a bomb in the direction of receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who had single-man coverage, near the Detroit goal line.
Lions cornerback Kindle Vildor was in great position to make an interception and … and the ball bounced off Vildor’s facemask, floating into the air for a tantalizing moment and falling into the arms of Aikuk at the Detroit 4-yard line for a 51-yard game-changing gain.
Two play later, Purdy connected with Aiyuk on a 6-yard TD to cut the lead to 24-17.
“Before the game, a lady bug landed on my shoe and ya’ll know what that means,’’ Aiyuk said. “God was with us today.’’ Insects, too.
The Lions didn’t know it at the time but they were done, and it all started with that break, that unfortunate bounce off a facemask.
When it was over, the 49ers were 34-31 winners, advancing to Super Bowl LVIII to face the AFC champion Chiefs on Feb. 11 in Las Vegas.
The 49ers are going to their second Super Bowl since 2020 — when they lost to the Chiefs — but they last won the big game in the 1994 season.
“There’s been unfinished business for a while,’’ 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said.
Given the complete domination by Detroit in the first 30 minutes, what transpired in the third quarter is almost inexplicable. The 49ers changed everything, erasing the 17point deficit in just 12 minutes and scoring on each of their first five possessions in the second half.
“Guys didn’t want today to be our last day,’’ Shanahan said.
A pivotal moment came when swashbuckling Lions coach Dan Campbell, who goes for it on fourth down and converts more fourth downs than anyone in the NFL and apologizes to no one for it, tried to put the game out of reach and went for it on fourthand-2 play from the San Francisco 28-yard line.
Instead of kicking a field goal to extend the lead to 27-10, Campbell went for the first down and quarterback Jared Goff was unable to connect with receiver Josh Reynolds, giving the 49ers the ball back with 6:58 remaining in the third quarter.
“It’s easy in hindsight, and I get it, but I don’t regret those decisions,’’ Campbell said. “I understand the scrutiny I’ll get. That’s part of the gig, man. I just felt good about us converting. It just didn’t work out.’’
It did for the 49ers, who got a jolt of hope from the stop their defense made.
It was the opening the 49ers needed. Campbell left the door ajar and the 49ers burst through it — all the way to Vegas.
It was on that ensuing possession after the failed Detroit fourth-down play when Purdy connected with Aiyuk — via Vildor’s facemask.
“In that moment, we needed a play,’’
Purdy said.
“When I heard the whole stadium erupt and
I saw ‘BA’ curled up with the ball, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, he caught that?’ ’’
Shortly after that, the Lions’ world really began to unravel when, on Detroit’s first play of the ensuing drive, rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs was stripped of the ball by 49ers safety Tashaun Gipson Jr. with defensive tackle Arik Armstead recovering.
Four plays after that turnover, the 49ers tied the game at 24-24 on a 1-yard scoring run by Christian McCaffrey, his second TD of the game, with 3:02 remaining in the third.
The 49ers took a 27-24 lead — their first of the game — on a 33yard Moody field goal with 9:52 remaining in the game.
For the 49ers, they have a score to settle — 30 years since their last Super Bowl title.
“Now,’’ Gipson said, “we’ve got one more game to cement our legacies.’’