Divisional Round, 1957: Detroit 31 San Francisco 27

The Lions trailed the 49ers 24–7 at halftime, and were down twenty points in the third quarter. Quarterback Bobby Layne had been lost for the season two weeks earlier, and backup Tobin Rote led the Lions' rally, scoring 24 unanswered points in the second half to win, 31–27. The game was featured on NFL Top 10 as #2 on Top Ten Comebacks. As of 2021, this is the last time the Lions have won a playoff game on the road.

Wikipedia

It’s time to go way back into the SF 49ers’ historical archives, long before the modern-football era and back when Hall of Fame quarterback Y.A. Tittle was becoming a league legend.

Despite Tittle’s lengthy accolade list that got him into Canton, he only got into the postseason once with the Niners and just five times over his otherwise storied career, and each one of those games ended up being losses.

The worst of the bunch, and No. 5 on this list, was the 1957 divisional round against the Detroit Lions — a game that saw San Francisco get out to a commanding 27-7 lead in the third quarter. Tittle had tossed three touchdowns up to that point, and there were few signs of life from Detroit’s offense.

But that all changed in the third quarter.

The Lions defense ended up intercepting Tittle three times, then Detroit scored 24 unanswered points after the SF 49ers tacked on their final points of the game, a field goal early in the third frame.

Detroit’s game-winning field goal late in the fourth quarter was the dagger, giving the Lions the victory and putting a cap on what’s still one of the Niners’ biggest postseason collapses in playoff history.

Lions quarterback Tobin Rote runs the ball.