49ers stunning comeback makes NFL history plus 13 other crazy stats from the AFC and NFC championship games

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The San Francisco 49ers made NFL history on Sunday during their wild comeback win over the Detroit Lions. 

The 49ers were trailing 24-7 at halftime before rallying back for a wild 34-31 win. The 17-point comeback was the largest comeback from a halftime deficit in conference title game history.

Every Sunday night I get an email from our research department here at CBS Sports and that was one of 13 wild stats that they sent through involving Sunday’s games. 

With that in mind, here are 13 more crazy facts from the conference title games: 

  1. 49ers pull off biggest comeback in NFC title game history. The 49ers’ 17-point comeback against the Lions was tied for the largest NFC title game comeback in NFL history. The only other 17-point comeback was also pulled off by the 49ers in a 2012 win over the Falcons (The largest comeback in AFC title game history is 18 points). 
  2. 49ers get Lucky 38. The win over the Lions was the 38th playoff victory in franchise history for the 49ers, which is the most by any team in NFL history. The 49ers had previously been tied with the Packers and Patriots for the most ever with 37. 
  3. Purdy good. With the 49ers victory, Brock Purdy now has four playoff wins for his career, which is the second-most in NFL history for a player in his first two seasons. Only Ben Roethlisberger (5) has more and Purdy can tie him with a Super Bowl win over the Chiefs. Purdy also had at least one win against every NFC team that made the playoffs, which makes him the first QB to pull that off feat since Joe Montana in 1984. 
  4. Lions’ receiver goes on a run. Jameson Williams scored on a 42-yard run against the 49ers, which was the third-longest TD run by a receiver ever in the playoffs, trailing only James Lofton (71-yard run in 1982 divisional) and Ahmad Merritt (47-yard run in 2001 divisional). 
  5. Lions road woes continue in the bay. The Lions have now lost 14 straight road games against the 49ers, which is the longest active streak in the NFL. The 49ers haven’t lost a home game to the Lions since 1975. 
  6. Chiefs pull off AFC title game rarity. The Chiefs scored exactly zero points in second half, which makes them the first team since the 2010 Steelers to go scoreless in the second half of an AFC title game and still win.
  7. Kelce catches Jerry Rice. With 11 catches against the Ravens, Travis Kelce now has 156 for his postseason career, which is the MOST in NFL history. He moved past Jerry Rice, who finished his career with 151. Kelce now also has 14 playoff games with at least one TD, which is tied with Rice for the most in NFL history.
  8. Mahomes is magic. The Chiefs QB will become the first player to start in four Super Bowls before the age of 30. He also won his 14th postseason game, which is tied for the third-most in NFL history, trailing only Tom Brady (35) and Joe Montana (16). 
  9. Lamar Jackson loses again in playoffs. With the loss to the Chiefs, the Ravens quarterback now has a career record of 2-4 in the postseason, which is tied for the fifth-worst record of all-time for any QB who has started at least five games. 
  10. Ravens can’t get over the hump. The Ravens have won 66 games over the past six seasons, which is tied for the second-most in NFL history for a team that didn’t make the Super Bowl during that six-season span. Only the Chargers, who won 67 between 2004 and 2009, won more without making the Super Bowl. 
  11. Chiefs can go back-to-back. The Chiefs have a chance to become the NFL’s first repeat Super Bowl champion since 2003-04, when the Patriots went back-to-back. 
  12. Reid vs. Shanahan, Part II. This will mark just the fourth time in NFL history that two coaches have met in a Super Bowl at least two times. We haven’t seen this happen since Tom Coughlin’s Giants played Bill Belichick’s Patriots two times over five seasons.
  13. Never bet against Mahomes. The Chiefs quarterback is now 3-0 as a playoff underdog in his career, which is impressive when you consider that he now has as many underdog wins in the postseason as Brett Favre, Dan Marino, Steve Young and Jim Kelly COMBINED. Those four Hall of Famers went 3-25 as underdogs in the playoffs. 

As things stand right now, Mahomes could be an underdog once again in the Super Bowl. The Chiefs opened as a 2.5-point dog, but after bettors hammered Kansas City early, the Chiefs are now just a 1-point dog. You can read our full early odds story on the Super Bowl here