SANTA CLARA – The 49ers booked a spot in the NFC Championship Game for the third time in four seasons Sunday, even if it took them a while to secure that reservation.
Christian McCaffrey scored a go-ahead 2-yard touchdown run to open the fourth quarter, and the 49ers held on to oust the Dallas Cowboys 19-12 in a divisional-round playoff game before a spirited crowd of 71,888 at Levi’s Stadium.
The No. 2 seed 49ers will play for a Super Bowl berth next Sunday at the top-seeded Philadelphia Eagles, who advanced with a 38-7 win Saturday over the New York Giants.
The Eagles (15-3) last appeared on that stage five seasons ago en route to the franchise’s first Super Bowl triumph. The 49ers (15-4) won the NFC crown three seasons ago at home against the Green Bay Packers, but then came last season’s loss in which they blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Los Angeles Rams.
Coach Kyle Shanahan isn’t exactly basking in this third NFC Championship Game trip.
“When you work so hard to get to these points, all we could think about was winning that game,” Shanahan said. “It was fun for a little bit, but then you get to the locker room, and it’s, ‘Alright, let’s get on to the next one.’ We have a big game this week and that’s not our ultimate goal. To get there, we have to take care of business.”
Added Christian McCaffrey: “It feels good. We have more life. But the prep starts now.”
Rookie Brock Purdy, in his seventh win since relieving an injured Jimmy Garoppolo, delivered clutch completions down the stretch. He finished 18-of-29 for 214 yards with no turnovers. Purdy is just the fifth rookie quarterback in NFL history to win a divisional-round game, and just the third rookie QB to produce a pair of playoff wins, having downed the Seattle Seahawks in last weekend’s wild-card round.
Purdy’s celebration was on pause, saying: “I’m still focused on the game and what we could have done to be better. Yeah, it’s cool to see the clock hit zero and it’s Niners over the Cowboys in the playoffs. … It takes everybody, not just one person. Playoff football is not easy, and to go to the NFC Championship means a lot to us.”
This 12th straight win wasn’t exactly secured with fourth-quarter domination. But the 49ers did enough when it counted most. They widened their lead to 19-12 with 3:04 remaining, when Robbie Gould made his fourth field goal in four tries to cap a 7-minute scoring drive.
The Cowboys (13-6) had time to answer, as was the case last year when they hosted the 49ers in the wild-card round and killed the final seconds without a scoring shot, in a 23-17 Niners win.
After the teams traded possessions, the Cowboys’ last shot started at their 6-yard line with 45 seconds to go. Six snaps later from the 24-yard line, Dallas set up for a trick play full of laterals, the 49ers called timeout, and, soon enough, Dallas was done. Prescott, after taking a shotgun snap from running back Ezekiel Elliott, delivered an 8-yard completion to KaVontae Turpin — and Jimmie Ward decked him immediately to end the game.
Not until late in the third quarter Sunday did the 49ers truly make their move, sparked by George Kittle’s 30-yard juggling catch to midfield. Back-to-back holding penalties by the Cowboys’ defense sent the 49ers to the 10-yard line, and after Kyle Juszczyk closed the quarter with an 8-yard run, McCaffrey opened the fourth with his 2-yard touchdown run up the middle, courtesy of great blocking, for a 16-9 lead.
“Explosives can jump start you more than anything,” Shanahan said of Kittle’s catch. “He wasn’t the primary, Brock came back to the inside, Kittle saw an opening, Brock let it rip, and Kittle made a hell of a catch.”
Kittle improvised after No. 1 target Brandon Aiyuk was covered, to which Purdy said: “Kittle, he wasn’t supposed to run down the field like that but he felt space. That’s what I love about him. … It seemed like it was 10 seconds of bobbling.”
“That was unbelievable,” McCaffrey said. “It’s one of the best catches I’ve ever seen. It’s a special player doing special things.”
Kittle’s take: “He gave me a catchable ball and I was just trying to be dramatic for TV, get the ratings up, that’s all we’re here for.”
Dallas responded with a 44-yard kick return by Turpin, but they could only pull within 16-12 on Brett Maher’s 43-yard field goal with 11:03 remaining.
Maher was set up as the Cowboys’ potential scapegoat, when a blocked point-after kick in the second quarter marked his sixth miss in seven attempts, including four shanks in Monday’s wild-card win.
Maher did pull the Cowboys even at 9 when he made a 25-yard field goal in the third quarter. The Cowboys were poised to take the lead, however, after they had recovered Ray-Ray McCloud’s fumbled punt return at the 21-yard line and then got to first-and-goal.
“We stood up big-time in that moment,” linebacker Fred Warner said of the defense’s response.
It was McCloud’s third fumble this season but the first he’s lost. He fumbled 13 times in his four seasons prior to joining the 49ers this season.
To summarize the 49ers’ 9-6 halftime lead, they had nine points because of their kicker, Gould, and the Cowboys had only six points because of their kicker, Maher, as his point-after was blocked by Samson Ebukam.
Gould’s reliability is the polar opposite. His 28-yard field goal capped the scoring and a 4-for-4 day, having made a 50-yarder as the half expired after 26- and 47-yard kicks. He is 29-of-29 on field-goal attempts in 15 playoff games.
Deommodore Lenoir and Warner intercepted first-half passes by Dak Prescott, who threw an NFL-high 15 in the regular season but none in a five-touchdown performance last round against the Buccaneers.
Lenoir’s interception, on an underthrown pass to Michael Gallup, came on Dallas’ second series, and the 49ers converted that into Gould’s first field goal.
Warner’s interception came in the red zone off a deflection by Jimmie Ward on a pass intended to CeeDee Lamb, with 1:15 left until halftime. The 49ers’ offense lurched down the field as precious seconds expired, but Purdy threw the ball away to keep one second left for Gould’s 50-yard kick.
Purdy, meanwhile, has yet to commit a turnover in the playoffs, and he’s thrown just three interceptions in eight games since replacing Garoppolo.
“In playoff football — any game really in the NFL — you can’t afford to throw the ball up or fumble,” Purdy said. “When so much is on the line and everyone is playing their best football, every moment matters. I know we have one of the best if not the best defense in the league, and I just have to do my part.”
The Cowboys’ biggest development of the first half was neither Prescott’s generosity nor Maher’s misery, but rather the loss of Pro Bowl running back Tony Pollard to a fractured left fibula. Pollard’s left leg was trapped under Jimmie Ward’s tackle at the 18-yard line 1:24 before halftime. That followed Prescott’s 8-yard scramble on fourth-and-4, and the injury preceded Warner’s interception on the next snap.
“Their offense changed up not having him back there,” Warner said of Pollard, who had 22 of Dallas’ 76 rushing yards.
The Cowboys took a 6-3 lead on Dalton Schultz’s 4-yard touchdown catch 9:25 before halftime. Maher’s ensuing missed PAT took the shine off a 14-play, 74-yard drive that included a pair of third- and fourth-and-short conversions.
The 49ers’ only announced injury was to defensive lineman Charles Omenihu (oblique) in the second quarter, but he returned to the game. McCaffrey (right calf) and Jimmie Ward (left calf) also received treatment on the side.
“I was fighting but made it through, made it through great,” McCaffrey said. “(The calf) is nothing bad. All good.”
All good, indeed. Next stop: their next NFC Championship Game.
Source: www.mercurynews.com