The San Francisco 49ers are set to host the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday afternoon. For the 49ers, this marks the organization’s third-straight trip to the conference championship while the Lions are making their first appearance to the final four since 1991. These two teams have met in the postseason just once since the 1970 NFL merger, clashing in the Divisional Round of the 1983 playoffs.
Here’s what each team had to say leading up to the playoffs:
“I think he’s shown some of the stuff that he did in Los Angeles… He played at an MVP-type level. When they give him a good scheme, when he’s got good people around him, Jared’s going to always find the spot. He’s as accurate as any quarterback I’ve seen. He can play at a very top level.
If you sit and make things easy for him, he will gash you. I’ve seen it over and over, whether he’s with the Rams, whether he is with Detroit. That’s why he challenges you. You better be on your stuff, or he can embarrass you fast.”
Shanahan on game planning for a team that is aggressive in their play calling:
“You’re aware of it, so you understand it and you prepare for it. When it’s third down, they might have two tries a lot more than other teams do. But just percentage-wise, they’re willing to go for fake punts and all that stuff.
- Those guys are trying to steal possessions as much as they can. I’ll tell you after the game whether that’s a good thing or badΠ thing for us. Anytime you try to steal possessions, you’re also offering an opportunity to lose a possession. Those are opportunities for them, but they’re also big opportunities for us too. You come up with more than half of them, I feel it’s in our favor.”
