San Francisco 49ers: 5 Season-defining moments that led to Super Bowl 54
Week 17 at SEA: Not Even an Inch
The last game of the decade took place in CenturyLink Field, as the 49ers battled the Seattle Seahawks for the NFC West crown. After suffering a heartbreaking overtime defeat earlier in the year versus Seattle, the 49ers had the opportunity to take revenge. San Francisco could win the NFC West for the first time since the days of Jim Harbaugh and force the playoffs to run through Levi’s Stadium with a victory over their division rival.
The 49ers started off the game hot. They took a 13-0 lead into halftime and had dominated Seattle up until this point. However, Russell Wilson can never be counted out for long. Wilson mounted a comeback and pulled his team within five points with 3:36 left in the fourth quarter. After the 49ers were forced to punt, Wilson led his team down the field and had a 4th & Goal opportunity from the San Francisco 5-yard line with 12 seconds remaining.
Wilson took the snap and threw a strike to tight end Jacob Hollister, who was tackled barely outside the endzone by rookie linebacker Dre Greenlaw. After official review, it was determined that Hollister was inches short of the goal line and San Francisco forced a turnover on downs. With the 49ers being literal inches away from playing every playoff game on the road instead of hosting, the defense stood strong for the umpteenth time this season and won the game.
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The 49ers went on to rout their two playoff opponents and advance to Super Bowl LIV to play the Kansas City Chiefs. After all of the adversity faced last season and the public scrutiny by the national media this season, the 49ers were able to prove several times that they are the class of the NFC and could very well end up Super Bowl champions by Monday morning.