Brady and Gronkowski initially surpassed the previous record of 12 set by San Francisco 49ers legends Joe Montana and Jerry Rice during their Super Bowl LV against Mahomes, Kelce and the Chiefs.
After spending all regular season as front-runners, the Niners (13-5) needed to come from behind for a change, and Brock Purdy and McCaffrey did just enough on the last drive to send San Francisco to its third straight NFC championship game.
Purdy went 6 for 7 for 47 yards on the decisive drive, converting a third down to Brandon Aiyuk and then a 17-yarder to Chris Conley.
McCaffrey finished it off with his run on third-and-short and the 49ers’ defense held on from there, with Dre Greenlaw intercepting Jordan Love for the second time to seal San Francisco’s fifth straight playoff win over Green Bay (10-9).
“I’m incredibly grateful to have played for the best coach in the history of the NFL,” Brady wrote in an Instagram post. “He was a great leader for the organization, and for all of the players who played for him. We accomplished some amazing things over a long period of time, many of which will be hard to replicate. He worked every day to help us achieve the ultimate goal, in the ultimate team sport.”
“He set the tone for the organization, to never Falter in the face of adversity, and to do what we could do, and what was in our control, which was to go out and DO OUR JOB.”
