Sports world reacts to Lions-49ers NFC Championship Game - ESPN

The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Detroit Lions 34-31 in the NFC Championship Game, advancing to play in Super LVIII, the franchise's eighth Super Bowl appearance.

The Lions seemed to be in control when they headed into halftime up 24-7. But the 49ers roared back with 17 unanswered points in eight minutes during the third quarter.

San Francisco kept the momentum going in the fourth quarter, taking a three-point lead after Jake Moody hit a 33-yard field goal with 9:52 left in the game. On the Lions' ensuing drive, they failed to convert on fourth down near the red zone and the 49ers responded with a touchdown, stretching their lead to 10 to ice the game.

Niners quarterback Brock Purdy threw for 267 yards and a touchdown and interception, and Christian McCaffrey ran for 90 yards and two touchdowns. Lions quarterback Jared Goff had 273 passing yards and a touchdown. David Montgomery, Jahmyr Gibbs and Jameson Williams each had a rushing touchdown.

Another Bay Area team and the alma maters of 49ers players were among the first to offer their congratulations.

Congrats, <a href=«https://twitter.com/49ers?ref_src=» https:>@49ers

! <a href=«https://twitter.com/hashtag/BayAreaUnite?src=hash&ref_src=» https:>#BayAreaUnite https://t.co/GIIzFSu6au

Congrats to <a href=«https://twitter.com/CMC_22?ref_src=» https:>@CMC_22

and <a href=«https://twitter.com/_curtisrobinson?ref_src=» https:>@_curtisrobinson on punching a ticket to <a href=«https://twitter.com/hashtag/SuperBowlLVIII?src=hash&ref_src=» https:>#SuperBowlLVIII ‼️<a href=«https://twitter.com/hashtag/StanfordNFL?src=hash&ref_src=» https:>#StanfordNFL https://t.co/1xW5eUsEaa