His team is headed to Super Bowl XLVII because of his two rushing touchdowns in the second half. Frank Gore's five- and nine-yard TD's helped the San Francisco 49ers past the Atlanta Falcons 28-24 on Sunday in the NFC Championship and garnered our NFL Player of the Week honor in the process. (No past San Fran running back pun intended. Sorry Charlie Garner.)
Gore ran for 90 yards on 21 carries in the Niners' victory, scoring a TD to pull them within three points of Atlanta in the third quarter and notched his other halfway through the fourth in the final strike for either side. Gore notched 62 of his rushing yards in the second half.
The 49ers erased a 17-point first-half deficit over the course of the game, getting within three during the second quarter. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan had three throwing touchdowns in the game's first 30 minutes but couldn't muster any more points the rest of the way.
This season, Gore had 1,124 rushing yards in the regular season with nine touchdowns (eight rushing) and a 4.7 yards per carry average. In this year's playoffs, he has registered 209 rushing yards with three touchdowns (two rushing). He set career playoff highs for both rushing (119) and receiving yards (48) in the divisional round win over the Green Bay Packers. He earned a Pro Bowl invitation for his effort this year, but won't be participating (along with all eight other 49ers and the six Ravens' Pro Bowlers) because of the big game the following Sunday.
Gore's best season came in 2006, when he registered career-highs in yards per carry (5.4), rushing yards (1,695), receptions (61) and receiving (485) yards. His highest touchdown total came in 2009, when he had high water marks for both rushing (10) and receiving (3) scores. He is a four-time Pro Bowler, making it each of the last two years.
Gore's San Francisco squad will participate in its sixth Super Bowl on February 3. The 49ers have a 5-0 all-time record in the big game, with the most recent victory coming in 1994, a 49-26 drubbing of the San Diego Chargers. The AFC challenger, the Baltimore Ravens, are 1-0 in the Super Bowl, with the 34-7 win coming in February 2001 against the New York Giants.
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