PHILADELPHIA — The late-game meltdowns stick in San Francisco.
Just consider Super Bowl LIV in February 2020, when the 49ers became only the third team in the history of the big game to cough up a 10-point lead in the second half, losing to the Kansas City Chiefs. And then there’s the NFC title game a year ago, when a 17-7 lead against the Los Angeles Rams unraveled in the fourth quarter because of a dropped interception in the hands of the 49ers, a conservative fourth-down call and an interception thrown by San Francisco on its final series.
Another blown opportunity at a championship that’s hard to forget.
“As you go back to last year, we were a couple of plays away from making it to the Super Bowl again,” wide receiver Deebo Samuel said. “What’s it really going to take for us to get there? We just have to minimize the mistakes and everybody has to be on their assignments.”
Oh, just near perfection. That’s a pretty heady task for any team, much less one headed to Philadelphia, where cold weather, an MVP finalist and the top-seeded team in the conference await in Sunday’s NFC title game against the Eagles. It’s going to get crazy loud — or is it crazy and loud? — at Lincoln Financial Field for a 3 p.m. matchup that will be televised by Fox.