Three leaps of faith put 49ers on brink of Super Bowl berth

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — This thing started three years ago, and no one really knew how it was going to go, because the project was unconventional and it was beginning from rock bottom.

How could anyone have predicted that the 49ers would be the No. 1 seed in the NFC and advancing to the NFC Championship game by virtue of Saturday’s dominant 27-10 divisional playoff win over the Vikings at Levi’s Stadium — the franchise’s first postseason game since 2013?

After the 2014 season, when their coach, Jim Harbaugh, bolted for Michigan, that scenario seemed as likely as no fog in the San Francisco air for the next three years.

First, John Lynch was hired as the general manager despite never having never worked in an NFL front office or having coached before. Lynch, a former NFL player, had gone directly into broadcasting after his playing career was over.

Lynch then hired Kyle Shanahan as his head coach despite Shanahan being 37 years old and never having been a head coach on any level before.

These were leaps of faith taken by 49ers ownership.

So, too, was the third significant, franchise-altering move that came eight games (all losses) into Shanahan’s first season, 2017, when Lynch somehow wrested quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo from the Patriots in a stunning trade for a second-round draft pick.

Still, the acquisition of Garoppolo was as risky as the hire of Lynch and then Shanahan in that he came with him having little to no experience — just 94 passes thrown in three years with the Patriots.

These three moves — the hiring of Lynch, Shanahan and the trade for Garoppolo — are the foundation of the 14-3 49ers. They are the moves that have led the 49ers to the NFC title game against the winner of Sunday’s Packers-Seahawks game — at home next Sunday.

Left tackle Joe Staley, the elder statesman on the 49ers’ roster, was contemplating retirement around the time Lynch and Shanahan were hired. He ceased those thoughts as soon as he sat down with them and listened to their plan.

“I was at a crossroads in my career, wondering if I wanted to go through another rebuild,’’ Staley said after the win. “But being with Kyle and John when they got here and seeing their vision and just listening to them talk about what they believed, the kind of players they were going to bring in here — high-quality character guys that were also bad-asses on the football field — they do what they preach and it’s been exciting to see the build here.’’

The blueprint for victory on Saturday for the 49ers was as sure as the blueprint Lynch and Shanahan had for building this team in that it was positively textbook.

The 49ers’ No. 1 task in this game was preventing Vikings running back Dalvin Cook from having a big day and forcing quarterback Kirk Cousins to try to beat them.

Cook was neutralized marvelously by a swarming San Francisco defense, finishing with just 18 yards on nine carries. And Cousins, who completed 21 of 29 for 172 yards (much of it in garbage time) with a TD and interception, wasn’t able to elevate his game or the players around him.

The Vikings had four first downs in the first half and finished with seven for the game.

The 49ers ran the ball 47 times for 186 yards and broke the Vikings, who ran just 10 times for 21 yards.

Garoppolo completed 11 of 19 for 131 yards with a TD and an INT. He got the 49ers offense started on the opening drive, going 5-of-6 for 56 yards and a TD pass to Kendrick Bourne. But he wasn’t the star of the game. He didn’t need to be, because that’s the way Lynch built this team so brilliantly.

“Kyle and John do such a good job of being confident in the decisions that they make without letting the outside noise affect them,’’ 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk said.

“Kyle understands how he wants to build and run things and the players that fit what he wants to do,’’ 49ers right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “[Team ownership] saw that when they brought them in and they trusted them. It’s rare when you see six or seven-year contracts given to first-year head coaches and GMs, but that’s what they did here, because they believe in who they are as evaluators and coaches. Thank God they were right in rolling the dice.’’

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