Recent 49ers Playoff Failures Loom Large Ahead of Another NFC Title Game

The agony set in quickly for San Francisco 49ers players as they walked off the turf at Lincoln Financial Field last January. Their season had just ended, for the second year in a row, with a frustrating NFC Championship Game loss—this time to the Philadelphia Eagles. Philly fanatics passionately waved their green towels, and confetti fluttered through the air as the Niners left toward their locker room in defeat.

And, as All-Pro tight end George Kittle eloquently said postgame, the loss felt "pretty shi**y."

Fullback Kyle Juszczyk later described wanting to snap his fingers and immediately get another NFC title shot. It wasn't that easy. A year later, though, after a long off-season, training camp, a 12-win campaign and most recently a 24-21 Divisional Round win over the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco is a win away from Super Bowl Sunday. Again.

But this time, the top-seeded Niners—who host the No. 3 seed Detroit Lions for the conference championship—are focused on not letting another opportunity pass them by.

"There's so much that has to happen between that last loss and getting back there again," Juszczyk told reporters after beating the Packers. "And to finally be back there again, you don't take it for granted. You know how hard it is and you know how much it means to these guys here that have gone through that. I get emotional thinking about it. We're back here, and it's time to take care of business. It's time."

San Francisco hosts Detroit at 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, with the game airing on Fox, in the NFC Championship Game. Not only is this the franchise's third consecutive appearance in the conference title game but its fourth in the last five years.

And by getting here again, the 49ers have continued an incredible trend.

In each season since 2003, the Niners have either missed the playoffs entirely or reached the postseason and made it all the way to at least the NFC Championship Game. Yes, really.

The organization has made seven playoff trips over the last two decades. It went to three straight NFC title games and one Super Bowl under former coach Jim Harbaugh, and this is now Kyle Shanahan's fourth conference championship game as 49ers head coach. Still, San Fran has failed to bring home another Lombardi Trophy during this unusual stretch.

Since winning five Super Bowls between 1981 and 1994 amid a dynasty orchestrated by Bill Walsh and executed by Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott and a slew of other Hall of Famers, the 49ers have failed to add to their collection of Lombardi trophies. But they've been close. There was a three-point Super Bowl loss to the Ravens in the "Harbaugh Bowl," at the end of the 2012 season, then a blown 10-point lead to the Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs four seasons ago.

"When you're a kid, your goal is to get to the NFL and win a Super Bowl, right?" Kittle told reporters after beating the Packers. "That's been my goal ever since I was 5 years old. When I was 6, I was playing catch in the backyard with my dad, and he's throwing me Super Bowl game-winning touchdown passes. That's been my dream forever. To be one step closer to that, and I'm not looking far ahead, but I'm excited."

As Kittle noted, he isn't looking ahead too far yet. For good reason.

The last couple seasons have been filled with NFC Championship Game heartbreak in the Bay area.

Two years ago, the Niners allowed 13 unanswered fourth-quarter points to the eventual-champion Los Angeles Rams, blowing a 10-point lead and losing on a late field goal in the NFC title game. And last year, quarterback Brock Purdy tore a ligament in his throwing elbow on the first offensive drive in Philly. For most of the game, a 24-point loss, the 49ers didn't have a healthy quarterback available.

"We've been thinking about it, it's been sort of in the back of our minds, like, last year we had a team to do it, and we feel like we didn't have a real opportunity at it after the quarterbacks got hurt in that game," Purdy said this week. "So, I think we're really excited for it."

San Francisco has grown all too familiar of late with getting close to winning it all but falling just short, a notion the 49ers are sick of hearing about. But the only way to be rid of it is by overcoming the Lions this week. Then the Chiefs or Ravens will be waiting.

And if the 49ers can break their NFC title slump, perhaps a NFC-champion George Halas Trophy will serve as a precursor to finally hoisting the Lombardi again.

"Personally, I'm 0-2 in NFC championship games," All-Pro offensive tackle Trent Williams, 35, said, via the Associated Press. "So this is one we've got to get. Obviously, I'm not getting any younger. So I definitely want to get to the top of the mountain."