SAN FRANCISCO — They say comatose patients can still hear, that people in the room with them should never stop talking.
The New York Giants, up by 24 late in the third quarter of Sunday’s NFC wild-card game, talked trash. The San Francisco 49ers, with their vital signs apparently flatlined, got it loud and clear, kept talking to each other and kept their cool.
“I heard somebody ask who could make a play,” 49ers receiver Terrell Owens said of the team’s determination as the clock ran down. “I said I could. Then other guys chimed in.”
Quarterback Jeff Garcia operated in the two-minute offense with the swift improvisation of an emergency-room surgeon to lead the 49ers back to within five points, then connected with Tai Streets on a 13-yard touchdown pass with 1 minute left.
Although the 49ers failed to convert the subsequent two-point conversion, an errant Giants snap snuffed a 41-yard field-goal attempt as time ran out, giving San Francisco a 39-38 victory. It was the second-biggest resuscitation in NFL playoff history, and it sent the crowd of 66,318 at 3Com Park into a delirium that could have woken the dead.
“In the fourth quarter, it seemed like we had so much more energy,” said 49ers wide receiver J.J. Stokes. “They were taking their helmets off, wincing, breathing hard. I think they got winded. I think they relaxed and took us for granted a little bit.
“They were just a bunch of loudmouths. All they did was talk, talk, talk, trying to get us out of our game. It didn’t work. They lost. They go home.”
Garcia passed for 331 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for another. Owens, coming off a two-week layoff due to a groin injury, also did double duty, throwing for one key 25-yard gain and hauling in nine passes for 177 yards.
The 49ers erased a 38-14 deficit, and one illustrious observer called it the most stirring comeback in franchise history.
“This was unsurpassed, unbelievable,” said former 49ers coach Bill Walsh, now a team consultant. “As great a game as we’ve had. We finally broke out after an average to good season. This team had to demonstrate to each other that they could play a great team and win.”
There was speculation that a loss Sunday would cost 49ers coach Steve Mariucci his job. Instead, he engineered the biggest postseason rally since Buffalo came back from 35-3 third-quarter deficit against Houston 10 years ago to win 41-38 — and the 49ers survived to face Tampa Bay next week.