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49ers’ Dawson nails winning kick
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Phil Dawson kicked a 33-yard field goal as time expired and Colin Kaepernick threw for 227 yards and ran for another 98 to lead the San Francisco 49ers past the Green Bay Packers 23-20 on Sunday night in a frigid NFC wild-card game in Wisconsin.
In a back-and-forth fourth quarter, the 49ers (13-4) threw the final punch. Kaepernick escaped a blitz on third-and-8 and scrambled for an 11-yard gain to the 27 with 1:13 left. Dawson nailed the winning kick five plays later.
The defending NFC champions came away with a huge win in Arctic-like conditions. San Francisco plays at Carolina next Sunday.
Kaepernick shrugged off the weather conditions.
“It is not that cold,” he said. “It is all mental.”
Mason Crosby’s 24-yard field goal tied it at 20 for the Packers (8-8-1) with 5:06 left before the 49ers’ final drive.
Until then, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers did his best to turn into “Captain Comeback” again. After a slow first quarter, Rodgers finished 17 of 26 for 177 yards and touchdown.
Kaepernick connected with Vernon Davis down the seam for a 28-yard touchdown pass with 10:39 left. The score quickly answered John Kuhn’s 1-yard touchdown run that gave Green Bay a four-point lead.
In the AFC, San Diego took advantage of Andy Dalton’s three turnovers in the second half, pulling away to a 27-10 victory that extended Cincinnati’s streak of playoff misery to 23 years.
Philip Rivers donned gloves and made accurate throws in the January rain, leading the Chargers (10-7) to their fifth straight win, this one over the last team to knock them off. They’ll next play Denver, the AFC’s top seed.
“We talked all week about this being the fifth round,” Rivers said, “so the sixth round will be in Denver next week. We know Denver is a great team ... we’ll be ready for the challenge. Go see if we can score one more point than they can.”
It was a shocking finish for the Bengals (11-6), who won the AFC North, went unbeaten at home and had the top-ranked defense. But none of it mattered as they were outscored 20-0 in the second half.
Dalton, 29 of 51 for 334 yards, fumbled and threw two interceptions in the second half, setting up San Diego’s victory. Rivers finished 12 of 16 for 128 yards, including a touchdown to Ladarius Green.
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