Steve Young's lightning pass and Terrell Owens's soaring touchdown catch among a swarm of Green Bay Packers with three seconds left will rank as one of the San Francisco 49ers' most hallowed moments.
With Owens's breathtaking catch, San Francisco broke a fivegame losing streak to the Packers that included three play-off defeats. This game at 3Com Park in San Francisco had looked like another exercise in futility and frustration when the Packers took a 27-23 lead with just one minute and 53 seconds left, after Brett Favre lobbed the ball into the right corner of the end zone to a wide-open Antonio Freeman for a 15-yard touchdown.
But Young, like the legendary Joe Montana, can accomplish a lot in little time when supported by top-notch receivers, so the Packers watched anxiously as the 49ers moved steadily closer to their end zone.
The 49ers' winning drive took 76 yards and contained some lucky moments. The officials blundered by failing to spot a Jerry Rice fumble because, in his first catch of the game, Rice allowed the ball to slip out of his hands before hitting the ground as he was tackled. Yet the drive was allowed to continue.
There was also an element of luck in Young's pass to Owens. Young stumbled as he dropped back, but he still managed to launch the ball with plenty of zip. Owens was moving at top speed before leaping for the ball but managed to hang on for a 25-yard strike which made it a glorious 3027 victory for the 49ers, clinching a showdown this Saturday with the resurgent Atlanta Falcons.
Until his game-winning catch, Owens had played like a novice with butter-fingers, dropping the ball four times and fumbling on San Francisco's first drive.
"I had a rough day. I let the team down in the beginning, but they all encouraged me to keep my head up," said Owens, who was in tears as he hugged Steve Mariucci, the 49ers' coach, after the catch.
"It was a good throw," Young said. "In that situation, it had to be right in the spot. Fortunately, it was."
"When he throws that pass over the middle, you don't think there is any way that ball is going to be caught," Green Bay coach Mike Holmgren said. "(Owens) hung onto the ball and made a hell of a play."
It was a fitting finale to the most dramatic play-off game of the weekend. "Anyone who watched that game has to think it's the greatest game they've ever seen," said Favre. "The great players make big plays in big games. They made some and we made some."
The game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the New England Patriots was tame and lacklustre by comparison, the Jaguars' running back Jimmy Smith proving the difference with 162 yards in a 25-10 win.
In the weekend's other play-off games, the Arizona Cardinals beat the Dallas Cowboys 20-7 after losing 16 of the teams' last 17 encounters, and the Miami Dolphins ended the Buffalo Bills' surprising run with a 24-17 victory.
AFC wild card game: Jacksonville 25 New England 10. NFC wild card game: San Francisco 30 Green Bay 27. Next weekend's schedule: Saturday - NFC divisional game: San Francisco at Atlanta; AFC divisional game: Miami at Denver. Sunday - AFC divisional game: Jacksonville at NY Jets; NFC divisional game: Arizona at Minnesota.
