The 49ers are, so far, conquering an unprecedented travel log to reach the Super Bowl.
At least this next stop is a short, familiar jaunt.
They’ll be visiting the Los Angeles Rams for the NFC Championship at 3:30 p.m. next Sunday at SoFi Stadium, where the 49ers won in overtime two weeks ago, and where Super Bowl LVI will be held Feb. 13.
That’s right, these traveling businessmen from Santa Clara HQ won’t have to leave California again if they’re to bring home the franchise’s sixth Lombardi Trophy.
The No. 4-seed Rams advanced with a 30-27, walk-off win against the reigning Super Bowl champion and No. 2-seed Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Of the seven teams that previously won the Super Bowl as a wild card, none traveled as much the final two months of their season as the 49ers have, so far. This will be their seventh road game in nine weeks.
Only two weeks ago, the 49ers kept their season alive by rallying from a 17-0 deficit and downing the Rams in overtime, thus locking the 49ers into the NFC’s No. 6 seed as a wild card.
SoFi Stadium was besieged by red-clad, 49ers fans, and it was so loud that the Rams’ offense resorted to using a silent count in the 27-24 thriller.
If the 49ers win in Sunday’s encore visit — where the Rams are attempting to sell tickets only to local residents — they’ll be making actually their fourth appearance this season at SoFi Stadium. It is where they played their only road game in the preseason, a win over the Chargers.
These stakes are much greater. After the Jan. 9 win over the host Rams, then came a nail-biting win at No. 3-seed Dallas, followed by a fourth-quarter comeback Saturday night in the snow at No. 1 Green Bay.
Jet lag? It can wait, apparently.
This nine-game stretch began Dec. 5 at Seattle (loss) before ensuing visits to Cincinnati (Dec. 12, win), Tennessee (Dec. 23, loss), Los Angeles Rams (Jan. 9 win), Dallas (Jan. 16, win), Green Bay (Jan. 22, win) and back again to Los Angeles this Sunday.
That makes seven trips, and the most any wild-card champion traveled were six games in the nine leading up to a Super Bowl.
“It is very rewarding to be an underdog, come in and take something,” linebacker Fred Warner said after Saturday’s 13-10 win over the Packers.
Before flying Friday to Green Bay, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan sensed his team was ready to go after quickly overcoming any jetlag earlier in the week. The road comes with a chance to rest, too, at least before kickoff.
“I don’t mind the traveling,” Shanahan said Friday. “… It’s harder to just sit there and zone out when you’re around your whole family, instead of just sitting in a hotel room, so I think our guys get to sleep, we catch up.”
It’s worth noting the 49ers won two weeks before that across the country in Jacksonville. This was also the first season of the 17-game schedule, which meant an extra road game for the 49ers. They’re 8-3 overall on the road this year, and, incidentally, 7-1 in their traditional road uniform of white jerseys and gold pants (0-2 in the all-white throwbacks).
The Rams, meanwhile, will try doing what the Bucs did last season: win a Super Bowl on their home turf, the first time that had happened in the game’s 55-year history. The Rams have lost six in a row to the 49ers, getting swept in the home-away series annually since 2019.
Here are the seven previous wild-card champions and what road games they played in the nine overall games leading to their respective Super Bowl:
1980 Raiders
6 road games (in final nine): At Seattle (W), Philadelphia (L), Denver (W), New York Giants (W), Cleveland (W), San Diego (W)
Beat the Eagles in Super Bowl XV, 27-10
1997 Broncos
6: At Kansas City (L), San Diego (W), Pittsburgh (L), San Francisco (L), Kansas City (W), Pittsburgh (W)
Beat Packers in Super Bowl XXXII, 31-24
2000 Ravens
4: At Tennessee (W), Arizona (W), Tennessee (W), Oakland (W)
Beat Giants in Super Bowl XXXV, 34-7
2005 Steelers
Beat Seahawks in Super Bowl XL, 21-10
6: At Indianapolis (L), Minnesota (W), Cleveland (W), Cincinnati (W), Indianapolis (W), Denver (W)
2007 Giants
6: At Chicago (W), Philadelphia (W), Buffalo (W), Tampa Bay (W), Dallas (W), Green Bay (W)
Beat Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, 17-14
2010 Packers
6: At Atlanta (L), Detroit (L), New England (L), Philadlephia (W), Atlanta (W), Chicago (W)
Beat Steelers in Super Bowl XLV, 31-25
2020 Bucs
Beat Chiefs in Super Bowl LV, 31-9
5: At Atlanta (W), Detroit (W), Washington (W), New Orleans (W), Green Bay (W)
“The way this year has gone has made this journey special, and I’m glad it’s still going,” defensive end Nick Bosa said.
Two years ago, the 49ers enjoyed home-field advantage and won their NFC playoff games against Minnesota and Green Bay at Levi’s Stadium (before falling in the Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs in Miami).
“There’s nothing we like more than being at home and being in our own stadium with our fans and the noise,” Shanahan said, “but besides that, we don’t mind going on the road either.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com