GREEN BAY, Wis. — Playing inside a snow globe, surrounded by air that felt as if it had zero degrees of warmth, the 49ers’ stressful but successful season found its trademark moment.
There was no logical reason for the 49ers to beat the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night. The Niners were pushed around, couldn’t move the ball for hours, and looked generally out of sorts for most of the contest.
But for all their shortcomings, they also had a whole lot of guts, plenty of guile and a bit of luck on their side. San Francisco might not have been the better team Saturday, but they were the stronger team, no doubt, and that strength was the foundation of the Niners’ 13-10 win over the Packers to advance to the NFC Championship Game for the second time in three seasons.
Such a victory was terribly improbable to all those who watched the contest unfold, but it should not have been unexpected. No, the Niners came into Saturday’s contest battle-tested. They had been hardened along their improbable path to the second round of the playoffs.
And they needed all of that earned callous, all that fortitude — both mental and physical — to overcome the elements, the Packers and even themselves on Saturday.
In case anyone forgot, Saturday night’s game proved once again that this is still a sport that rewards the tough from the weak. This was not a game for wimps.
By the end of the game, it was 11 degrees, the wind was whipping, and the snow engulfed the field. This was the kind of cold that you could feel in your bones just standing in place. One can only imagine how painful it was to play. Sure enough, the bodies piled up as the game progressed.
And it all looked for naught for San Francisco. The Packers controlled the contest for more than 50 minutes.
But they wilted towards the end of the game. They didn’t have the fortitude to finish the job.
In the process, they left the front door open for San Francisco.
And Jordan Willis — playing through a sprained ankle — went right through that door.
Willis manhandled Green Bay long snapper Steven Wirtel to block a punt near the Green Bay end zone with 4:50 to play. The Niners scooped up the ball with ease and tied the game at 10.
It was the Niners’ big break. They took full advantage.
The 49ers’ defense turned in a masterful performance, even though it was piecemeal throughout the bruising contest. After the special teams touchdown, they subsequently prevented Green Bay from responding, forcing a three-and-out on the next drive.
And then the 49ers’ offense, sputtering throughout the contest and unable to reach the end zone even once, finished the job — not with a game-winning touchdown, but a nine-play, 44-yard drive, highlighted by Deebo Samuel’s tough-as-nails third-down run that set up a game-winning 45-yard field goal as the clock expired.
Let’s be clear: The defense won the Niners this game. There are no two ways about it.
They were incredible Saturday — going to another level of excellence in the second half and holding the presumptive back-to-back NFL MVP, Aaron Rodgers, to 225 passing yards on a night where he looked poised to cook the Niners from Green Bay’s first series.
But the offense did come through on Saturday. They didn’t do much, but they did enough to win.
And “enough” in the playoffs should always be celebrated.
Samuel was the best player on the field, again.
George Kittle’s big receptions down the stretch kept San Francisco alive.
And Jimmy Garoppolo — despite being downright awful for the vast majority of the contest — was money in the clutch, as he has so often been throughout his 49ers’ career.
This was a game for those who lack the good sense to doubt. Stubbornness is a virtue in the NFL, it seems. And the Niners have it in spades. It might be their strongest quality. They simply refuse to lose.
And Saturday’s win was a victory deserved for a squad that has found a way to scratch and claw and fight its way for everything they have earned this season.
This was a game that San Francisco straight-up stole. They should have no apologies for that.
Going into the contest, I said that San Francisco was playing with “house money”.
Their chips are piled so high, they’re falling over now that the Niners sit one win away from the Super Bowl.
It makes no sense at all, and yet all the sense in the world.
The Niners simply refuse to let their season end. They have since Week 10.
And with all that practice, why would it be a surprise that they’re still surviving?
Source: www.mercurynews.com