49ers fans still in shock from dramatic NFC Championship game
It was oddly quiet on the streets of San Francisco on Monday afternoon, a far cry from the drama of Sunday Night.
"We're BIG 49er fans! It's like a big hometown pride thing for us," Jazmin Ontiveros said.
During lunch at the Ferry Building, Ontiveros had to admit she thought the season was over when the team went down by 17 points at the half.
"Yeah, I did," she said. "Definitely by halftime, I was like, 'we're done.' You know the Lions had a great defense. They also had a very great offense. I was like, this is going to be tough to come back. I was very surprised that we actually won."
But they call Niner fans "the Faithful" for a reason.
"Fun game. Just a roller coaster ride..." said Alex Carcar, as he walked along the Embarcadero. Faith was something he said he never lost.
"I was always certain that they were going to come back," he said. "Yeah, my kid was upset. I said, just wait and see. They're going to come back in the second half. I don't know...I never lost hope."
"I told myself, 'I'm a believer," right? I'm going to believe we're going to come back. But, yes, it was a little, uh...I would be lying if I said there wasn't any kind of concern or doubt in my mind," said Monique Mabutas.
But the team DID come back, and Monique thought it all started when Brock Purdy tucked the ball and took off running.
"I don't think I've ever seen him run like that," she said, with a smile. "And I think that those drives really changed the direction of the game and got us fired up and got the stadium back alive too, because that place was just roaring."
Shane Lilly brought his family from Mojave to Levi's Stadium to see the game, and he thought the turning point was the incredible circus catch by Brandon Aiyuk after the ball bounced off the facemask of his defender.
"I knew we were coming back and were going to win it. Right there, I knew that we were going to win it. Because you could just feel the crowd, all the energy," he said.
But Colleen Fredericks actually credited someone else for the comeback win: her baby, who she put down for a nap during halftime.
"When I came back, they were doing well," she said. "So, the baby used some magic and it felt like that put us over the edge and got us to the Super Bowl."
After such a historic season, it's hard not to feel bad for the Lions and thier fans. Alan Clark said he was just sure this was going to be Detroit's year.
"We've been waiting forever! As long as I can remember! I'm 58 and I've never seen the Lions do a championship," he said. "But this was our first moment breaking free of the clouds and seeing the sunshine and thinking, yeah, we're going to do this! We're going to make this happen! So, yeah, it's more than a little disappointing."
There's always next year, but the 49ers feel this is THEIR year. So it's on to Las Vegas for a rematch against the Kansas City Chiefs.
