HEARTBREAK: Lions squander 17-point lead, fall to 49ers in NFC Championship

Santa Clara, Calif. — In a season that had been about the Detroit Lions exorcising their demons, it was the San Francisco 49ers who got revenge, 66 years in the making, on Sunday night at Levi's Stadium.

The 49ers overcame the identical 17-point halftime deficit they surrendered to the Lions in the 1957 Western Conference Championship, surging past the visiting team and into a Super Bowl matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs, 34-31.

With the defeat, the Lions have fallen short of playing in a Super Bowl for the 58th consecutive year of the event's existence, doing so in one of the most heartbreaking ways imaginable. It leaves the franchise, and the city that never ceases to support it, dreaming of a title that has eluded them since that 1957 season.

"It's hard when you lose that way," Lions coach Dan Campbell said. "You feel like you get your heart ripped out. But I'm proud of that group and I'll go anywhere with that group. You wish you could keep it all together, but that's not the reality. We did some really good things, but today, we didn't do enough. It's tough."

It was a bitter end to what started as a promising night. The Lions looked to be carving a clear path to history from the jump. Taking the ball first, they wasted zero time flexing their offensive muscle. After a pair of chunk gains from running back David Montgomery and tight end Sam LaPorta, quarterback Jared Goff handed the ball to speedy receiver Jameson Williams on an end-around.

Bursting around the right side of the formation, Williams cut inside, behind a block from center Frank Ragnow, and accelerated into the second level. 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw made a last-ditch effort to grab Williams as he passed, but only got a handful of jersey, as the receiver broke free of the defender's grasp, kept his footing and raced into the end zone for a 42-yard score.

The 49ers looked poised to deliver an early counterpunch, but Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson made a touchdown-saving pass deflection at the line as Aiyuk, an All-Pro receiver, came open on a slant with nothing but green ahead of him. That left the 49ers to attempt a field goal, but kicker Jake Moody missed the 48-yard try wide right, giving the ball back to the Lions with quality field position.

Taking advantage, the Lions methodically drove 62 yards with 11 plays, extending their first-quarter lead to 14. The offense needed to convert just one third down during the series and capped the series with three straight runs, including a 1-yard scoring plunge by Montgomery for a 14-0 lead.

The 49ers got on the board on their next possession, trimming the Lions' advantage in half with an eight-play, 75-yard drive. Running back Christian McCaffrey proved problematic for the defense, converting a third down on the ground before breaking a tackle on a short pass for a 28-yard gain. That set up a short touchdown run for the back two snaps later.

Detroit's offense finally hit a rough patch. After digging out of one third-and-long situation to keep the drive alive, they couldn't do it a second time and were forced to punt.

But the special teams and defense picked the Lions up. After punter Jack Fox pinned the 49ers deep in their own territory, the Lions' pass rush crushed the pocket on a third-and-10 snap, with defensive lineman Josh Paschal disrupting quarterback Brock Purdy's follow-through on a pass across the middle. That caused the throw to come up short, where it was intercepted by linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez.

Capitalizing, Detroit needed just five plays to translate the takeaway into another touchdown. LaPorta and St. Brown had receptions combining for 33 yards into the red zone, setting up a 15-yard touchdown run by rookie Jahmyr Gibbs, who took a pitch going right, made 49ers safety Tashaun Gibbs miss and picked up a block by Graham Glasgow to get across the goal line.

After the defense kept the good times rolling with a three-and-out, the Lions milked almost all of the remaining five minutes off the clock and added a 21-yard Michael Badgley field goal to take a three-score lead into the half, 24-7.

"It looked like it should have been worse," 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. "Definitely how it felt. That is how the numbers looked, but we were only down 17, which ... that's not too much."

The 49ers put a dent into the deficit to open the third quarter, quickly working into field-goal range, behind a 26-yard pass from Purdy to Deebo Samuel, before stalling and settling for a 43-yard Moody field goal that made it 24-10.

A pair of Lions drops allowed the 49ers to maintain their second-half momentum. The first came when Josh Reynolds couldn't hang on to a fourth-down pass in 49ers territory, resulting in a turnover on downs. Two plays later, Purdy unleashed a deep shot for Aiyuk that ricocheted off the hands and helmet of Lions cornerback Kindle Vildor, who had put himself in position to make the interception.

Instead, Aiyuk was able to able to dive and snag the deflection for a 51-yard gain, leading to a 6-yard touchdown toss to the receiver on third-and-goal. That left the Lions down a touchdown following the extra point, with five minutes remaining in the third quarter.

"Before the game, a ladybug landed on my shoe, and y'all know what that means," Aiyuk said in a postgame interview.

Detroit's third-quarter implosion continued on the first play of the ensuing series, with Gipson getting a measure of vengeance against Gibbs, forcing a fumble that was recovered by 49ers defensive lineman Arik Armstead. And like the Lions did after their takeaway, the 49ers turned it into a touchdown.

"Yeah, it was just a little bit off," Goff said about the handoff exchange.

A 21-yard scramble by Purdy down to the 4-yard line was the big play, as McCaffrey put the finishing touches on the rally with a game-tying, 1-yard touchdown run, his second of the game. And Detroit couldn't manage to break free of its funk of self-inflicted errors, as Reynolds dropped another one, this time on third down, leading to a three-and-out punt.

Purdy quickly moved the 49ers down the field, in position to take the lead, but the Lions were able to limit the damage to a field goal, after dropping the quarterback for sacks on back-to-back plays. Still, a 33-yard Moody boot was enough to give the 49ers their first lead of the night with just under 10 minutes remaining, 27-24.

Detroit's retort saw them work into field-goal range, but instead of attempting a 48-yarder in relatively calm conditions, coach Dan Campbell opted to go for it on fourth-and-3. But when Goff's initial read was covered and his pocket collapsed, the quarterback wasn't able to get enough on a downfield shot intended for St. Brown, leading to another turnover on downs.

"I don't regret those decisions, and that's hard," Campbell said. "It’s hard because we didn't come through, it wasn't able to work out. But I just ... I don't. I don't. And I understand the scrutiny. I get it. That’s part of the gig."

Pinning their hopes on a defense that hadn't gotten a stop in the second half proved to be fatal to Detroit's hopes. On third-and-4 at midfield, Purdy escaped heavy pressure and ran for 21 yards. McCaffrey then broke free for a 25-yard gain the next snap against the broken unit, with backup Elijah Mitchell delivering the dagger with a 3-yard touchdown run.

The Lions were able to scramble 75 yards in 11 plays to cut the lead to three when Goff found Williams in the back of the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown with 56 seconds remaining, but the needed onside-kick attempt was recovered by 49ers tight end George Kittle to secure the win.

The Lions end their season having snapped three-decade skids without a division title or a playoff victory after earning wins over the Rams and Buccaneers in the previous two weeks, but will remain without an elusive Super Bowl appearance for at least another year.

"I think we have a good foundation and I think that Dan and (general manager) Brad (Holmes) have built this team the right way," offensive tackle Taylor Decker said. (It's) a team that’s going to handle adversity, that’s not going to back down, that’s going to play confident and play physical, and ultimately, we just have to see if we can sustain it, because that’s going to be the mark of an actual good team,"

jdrogers@detroitnews.com

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