that kept Carolina scoreless in the second half. With the win, San Francisco clinched their third straight NFC Championship Game appearance. The 49ers travelled to CenturyLink Field to take on the NFC's #1 seed, Seattle Seahawks. However San Francisco would turn the ball over three times in the fourth quarter and lost to the eventual Super Bowl champions, 23-17 and were denied their return to the Super Bowl. Key turnovers for the third straight year prevented San Francisco from winning it all. During the game San Francisco lost their star linebacker, NaVorro Bowman to a left knee injury that later revealed was a torn ACL and MCL. 2014: Harbaugh's final year In the fourth season with Jim Harbaugh at helm, San Francisco began its season 1–2 for the second year in a row. Against Dallas, Chicago, and Arizona, San Francisco's offense struggled in the second half, being outscored 52–3, a pattern that would continue the rest of the season. In Week 4 against Philadelphia, San Francisco's defense shut down the Eagles' high-powered offense, however key mistakes by quarterback Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers' special teams kept the Eagles in the game, but won, 26–21. In Week 5, San Francisco welcomed home former quarterback Alex Smith and the Chiefs. The 49ers' red-zone offense struggled, only scoring one touchdown in four trips. However, they won 22–17 with the help of kicker Phil Dawson. The next week, the 49ers on Monday Night Football trailed 14–0 in the first quarter, but scored 31 unanswered points to defeat the Rams 31–17. On Sunday Night Football, San Francisco was overwhelmed by the Broncos' high-powered offense and lost 42–17. Struggles on San Francisco's offensive line would keep Colin Kaepernick under constant pressure in game where he was dropped six times and intercepted. Key injuries on the defense would also play a huge factor. San Francisco's offense struggled again as they failed to score a single point in the second half against the Rams and a goal-line fumble by Colin Kaepernick all but sealed a loss for the 49ers, dropping them to 4–4. Against the Saints, San Francisco's second-half struggles appeared once more in a game where they were up 21–10 at the end of the first half, to trail 24–21 with under two minutes left in the game. Colin Kaepernick however found a wide open Michael Crabtree for a 51-yard gain to set up a Phil Dawson