The 49ers are now one of the best teams to ever win a championship.
At halftime in the NFC Championship Game, the San Francisco 49ers were down 24–7 to the Detroit Lions. They were the first team to come back from what looked like an insurmountable second-half deficit.
San Francisco scored 27 straight points to start the second half and go on to win 34–31. It’s the biggest comeback from a halftime deficit that an NFL conference championship game has ever seen, and it’s tied for third place in the history of conference title games.
Many famous athletes and teams won when the odds had been against them. The 49ers are one of them. Here are a few of the more interesting ones that have happened since the year 2000.
The hated rivals, the New York Yankees, had won three of the four games in the series.
In the ninth inning of Game 4, the Yankees brought within Mariano Rivera to protect a 4-3 lead. In the ninth, Kevin Millar drew a walk against Rivera.
Dave Roberts came in as a pinch runner and almost stole second base. Bill Mueller then singled Roberts home to tie the game.
It was game over when David Ortiz hit a single of his numerous walk-off bats in extra innings. That happened again in Game 5 when he hit Johnny Damon home for the winning score in the 14th inning.
The Red Sox beat the Yankees 10-3 within Game 7 to end the series. Curt Schilling won Game 6 with a bloody sock. The Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals to claim the 2004 World Series and end an 86-year NBA title drought.
This was the initial of a few runs that broke curses or ended droughts. They did it in the World Series in 2016 and won the title for the first time since 1908. In the 2020 NLCS, the Los Angeles Dodgers were down 3-1 to the Atlanta Braves before coming back. In the end, L.A. won the World Series, which was its first title since 1988.
Since 1925, 14 teams in Major League Baseball have come back from being down 3-0 or 3-1 to win a series. Six of them were in the World Series. In 1985, the Kansas City Royals came back from 3-1 deficits in both the ALCS and the World Series.
As of 2016, the Cubs were the most current team to come back from being down 3-1 to prevail in the World Series. All six teams that came back from being down 3-1 since 2003 went on to win the whole thing.
Even though the Kings won the Stanley Cup in 2014, they were hardly important in the playoffs that year. As the Kings came back from being down 3-0 they defeated the San Jose Sharks, beating them 18–5 in Games 4–7.
The Philadelphia Flyers came back from being down 3-0 to beat the Boston Bruins in the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals.
Two Kings players, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, were on that team. The Kings were the last team to trail 3-0 in a series and still win the title.
It was good luck for Boston’s NBA team to come back this playoff season, but not so good luck for Boston’s hockey team.
Last season, the Bruins had the most wins and points in the league. But in the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, they let the Florida Panthers take a 3-1 lead.
In their comeback win against the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday, the 49ers made a lot of history. They also set an impressive NFL playoff record.
With their 34–31 win against the Detroit Lions, the 49ers are now sporting 38 playoff wins, more than any other team in NFL history. They are ahead of only the Green Bay Packers as well as the New England Patriots.
The 49ers are going to their eighth Super Bowl and are trying to win the big game for the first time since 1995. This is a big deal for the team.
Since the AFL and NFL merged in 1970, San Francisco has played in 35% of all NFC Title games. With 19 appearances, it is the most frequent team in the NFC and the most frequent team in any conference championship.
Brock Purdy possessed another good game for the 49ers. He settled in and threw for 267 yards and one touchdown. San Francisco’s defense made just the right number of key plays to stop Detroit’s powerful offense.
The 49ers have now been to the Super Bowl twice, tied with the Heinz Steelers, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Denver Broncos for second place. With 11, the Patriots have been to the most Super Bowls of any team in NFL history.
San Francisco will try to get back at Atlanta for losing the last two Super Bowls and win the team’s sixth Lombardi Trophy.
With five Super Bowl wins, the 49ers and the Cowboys are tied for second place. The Patriots and the Steelers are tied over first place with six wins each.