NFL Divisional Round Game Recap: San Francisco 49ers 24, Green Bay Packers 21

The San Francisco 49ers are heading back to the NFC championship game. 

Things looked dicey for the Niners in the second half of this divisional-round bout, but Kyle Shanahan's squad stuck around to secure a 24-21 win over the Green Bay Packers.

It was a back-and-forth affair in Santa Clara, Calif., but the Packers actually outplayed the hosts for most of the game. Quarterback Jordan Love made several high-end throws, and Green Bay even held a 21-17 lead with less than 7 minutes left in the fourth quarter. 

But then a 41-yard miss from rookie kicker Anders Carlson made way for a big-time 5-minute, 11-second touchdown drive from Brock Purdy and the Niners offense, leaving Love with just 67 seconds to get his team into field-goal range to tie the game.

Love started the final drive well, completing two of his three pass attempts for 11 yards and a first down. But in the end, the moment proved too big. On the following first down, Love scrambled from the pocket and uncorked a brutal game-ending interception on a pass thrown late and over the middle, a throw so complete in its Favre-ism that traveling fans would have felt as though they'd been transported back in time.

It's a tough result for Green Bay, but there is no denying that the future is bright with Love under center. No offense played better down the back half of the season, and Love earned the highest PFF grade at the position from Week 12 to the wild-card round.

The 49ers will advance to their fourth conference championship game in five seasons and host either the Detroit Lions or Tampa Bay Buccaneers next Sunday.

Offensive spotlight: Brock Purdy gets to add another playoff win to his resume, but this was far from his finest game. The Niners quarterback finished  23-of-39 for 252 yards and an excellent touchdown pass to George Kittle, but he also recorded two turnover-worthy plays and missed several key throws.

That said, he stepped up in a big way when his team needed him the most. He led his offense on a 12-play, 69-yard touchdown drive that included completions of 10 and 17 yards and a crucial 9-yard carry that set up the game-winning score.

Defensive spotlight: 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw will get his fair share of praise for his performance, and quite rightly so, as he picked off Jordan Love twice in the game. The veteran racked up nine solo tackles and three defensive stops and was frequently the first defender to the ball carrier.

Rookie spotlight: According to PFF's first review of the game film, Green Bay Packers interior defender Karl Brooks recorded a game-high five pressures across 16 pass-rush snaps, good for a 31.3% pressure rate and an 80.0-plus PFF pass-rush grade.

Box Score

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Receiving