49ers players visit with local dog shelter day before NFC Championship Game vs. Lions

The San Francisco 49ers are hours away from hosting the NFC Championship Game against the Detroit Lions.

In preparation for the game to decide who will represent the NFC in Super Bowl LVIII, the 49ers visited a local dog shelter and hung out with some furry friends. Among those in attendance: Tight end George Kittle, defensive end Chase Young and kicker Jake Moody.

The 49ers visited a dog shelter ahead of the NFC Championship Game 🥹

(@49ers // TT) pic.twitter.com/JMz5odfKp9

— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) January 27, 2024

The 49ers showed their lighter side in the clip posted to 49ers on NBCS, a side we won’t see Sunday when toe meets leather at Levi’s Stadium. The matchup between San Francisco and Detroit promises to be a physical showdown between the two best the NFC has to offer.

For the 49ers, a chance to make it back to the Super Bowl for the second time in the last five years. For the Lions, a shot at playing in the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history.

49ers, Lions ready to do battle in NFC Championship Game

“The game that this is going to be, it’s the NFC Championship with two really good teams. Then, just the Bay Area and the Faithful, in general,” quarterback Brock Purdy said this week, via the team’s website. “We want this game bad, and they’ve been hoping to have another Championship come to this organization. The last couple times we’ve been in the Super Bowl, we’ve fallen short. So, now we’ve got a shot at it again. To play at home in the NFC Championship, it’s going to be sweet.”

To this point, Detroit has been unflappable in the playoffs, winning two tightly contested games against the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Those performances, however, came inside a thunderous Ford Field in front of their fanbase. In order to go somewhere they’ve never been before, they’ll have to go on the road to get it done.

“If you want to be competitive in the playoffs, you want to have a chance to really go all the way, you have to be a good road team. You’re not always going to get the No. 1 seed, that’s the cream of the crop. That’s the one,” head coach Dan Campbell said. “If you can win on the road, that means you can handle adversity, you can handle the ebbs and flows of a game, you don’t crack and you handle pressure well. I think that’s something that we’ve talked about here, the way we practice, the way we do things, the way camp is, all of that. It serves you well.

“When you’re able to play a certain way on the road and handle a certain amount of pressure, that travels anyway.”