Sad news as 49ers fall short in a 40-34 loss to the Lions, with Brock Purdy sustaining an elbow injury and set to undergo an MRI.
The stakes were different. And so was the outcome.
Eleven months after the San Francisco 49ers beat the Lions, 34-31, at Levi’s Stadium with a trip to the Super Bowl at stake, Detroit exacted a small measure of revenge Monday night with 40-34 victory in Santa Clara in a game without playoff implications.
Lions 40, 49ers 34
Detroit
6
7
18
9
–
40
San Francisco
7
14
7
6
–
34
First Quarter
SF: Pearsall 3 pass from Purdy (Moody kick), 8:13. Drive: 12 plays, 61 yards, 6:23. Key Plays: Samuel kick return to San Francisco 39; Purdy 13 pass to Conley; Purdy 18 pass to Kittle; Purdy 1 run on 3rd-and-2; Purdy 2 run on 4th-and-1. San Francisco 7, Detroit 0.
Det: Ja.Williams 3 run (kick blocked), 3:42. Drive: 10 plays, 65 yards, 4:55. Key Plays: Kennedy kick return to Detroit 35; Gibbs 6 run on 3rd-and-2; Gibbs 21 run; Goff 26 pass to Reynolds. San Francisco 7, Detroit 6.
Second Quarter
SF: Juszczyk 9 pass from Purdy (Moody kick), 14:53. Drive: 7 plays, 70 yards, 3:49. Key Plays: Purdy 14 pass to Pearsall on 3rd-and-4; Guerendo 11 run; Purdy 20 pass to Kittle. San Francisco 14, Detroit 6.
Det: Ja.Williams 42 pass from Goff (Bates kick), 10:09. Drive: 9 plays, 75 yards, 4:44. Key Plays: Goff 6 pass to LaPorta on 3rd-and-3; Gibbs 15 run; Goff 11 pass to Gibbs. San Francisco 14, Detroit 13.
SF: Purdy 9 run (Moody kick), 6:13. Drive: 8 plays, 70 yards, 3:56. Key Play: Purdy 40 pass to Pearsall on 3rd-and-7. San Francisco 21, Detroit 13.
Third Quarter
Det: LaPorta 6 pass from Goff (Patrick pass from Goff), 9:58. Drive: 11 plays, 66 yards, 5:02. Key Plays: Kennedy kick return to Detroit 34; Goff 13 pass to St. Brown; Goff 12 pass to Ja.Williams on 3rd-and-5; Goff 21 pass to A.Robinson on 3rd-and-5. Detroit 21, San Francisco 21.
SF: Samuel 5 pass from Purdy (Moody kick), 7:40. Drive: 7 plays, 84 yards, 2:18. Key Plays: Purdy 13 pass to Jennings; Purdy 39 pass to Pearsall; Purdy 22 pass to Kittle. San Francisco 28, Detroit 21.
Det: FG Bates 57, 4:25. Drive: 7 plays, 31 yards, 3:15. Key Plays: Kennedy kick return to Detroit 30; Goff 28 pass to LaPorta. San Francisco 28, Detroit 24.
Det: St. Brown 4 pass from Goff (Bates kick), :19. Drive: 8 plays, 43 yards, 3:39. Key Plays: Joseph 0 interception return to San Francisco 50; Goff 13 pass to St. Brown. Detroit 31, San Francisco 28.
Fourth Quarter
Det: FG Bates 42, 10:29. Drive: 8 plays, 28 yards, 2:56. Key Play: Goff 19 pass to LaPorta on 4th-and-3. Detroit 34, San Francisco 28.
Det: Gibbs 30 run (kick failed), 2:58. Drive: 7 plays, 62 yards, 4:36. Key Play: Joseph 13 interception return to Detroit 38. Detroit 40, San Francisco 28.
SF: Dobbs 7 run (kick failed), :43. Drive: 12 plays, 72 yards, 2:15. Key Plays: Samuel kick return to San Francisco 28; Purdy 12 pass to Guerendo; Purdy 10 pass to Pearsall on 3rd-and-2; Dobbs 15 pass to Jennings; Dobbs 9 pass to Jennings on 3rd-and-2; Dobbs 11 pass to Kittle. Detroit 40, San Francisco 34.
___
Det
SF
FIRST DOWNS
23
29
Rushing
7
7
Passing
16
19
Penalty
0
3
THIRD DOWN EFF
9-14
5-8
FOURTH DOWN EFF
2-3
1-1
TOTAL NET YARDS
439
475
Total Plays
69
60
Avg Gain
6.4
7.9
NET YARDS RUSHING
152
75
Rushes
33
18
Avg per rush
4.606
4.167
NET YARDS PASSING
287
400
Sacked-Yds lost
2-16
2-12
Gross-Yds passing
303
412
Completed-Att.
26-34
30-40
Had Intercepted
0
2
Yards-Pass Play
7.972
9.524
KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB
8-7-4
6-3-2
PUNTS-Avg.
0-0.0
0-0.0
Punts blocked
0
0
FGs-PATs blocked
0-1
0-0
TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE
125
128
Punt Returns
0-0
0-0
Kickoff Returns
3-86
4-128
Interceptions
2-39
0-0
PENALTIES-Yds
6-57
5-30
FUMBLES-Lost
0-0
2-0
TIME OF POSSESSION
34:52
25:08
___
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Detroit, Gibbs 18-117, Reynolds 7-31, Jefferson 3-9, Ja.Williams 2-(minus 2), Goff 3-(minus 3). San Francisco, Guerendo 9-34, Samuel 3-16, Purdy 3-12, Dobbs 1-7, Pearsall 2-6.
PASSING: Detroit, Goff 26-34-0-303. San Francisco, Purdy 27-35-2-377, Dobbs 3-4-0-35, Pearsall 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING: Detroit, St. Brown 8-60, LaPorta 6-64, Ja.Williams 5-77, Gibbs 4-46, Reynolds 2-35, Robinson 1-21. San Francisco, Pearsall 8-141, Kittle 8-112, Jennings 7-67, Guerendo 4-65, Conley 1-13, Juszczyk 1-9, Samuel 1-5.
PUNT RETURNS: Detroit, None. San Francisco, None.
KICKOFF RETURNS: Detroit, Kennedy 3-86. San Francisco, Samuel 4-128.
TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS: Detroit, Arnold 6-0-0, Joseph 5-1-0, Campbell 4-5-0, Branch 4-3-1, Melifonwu 4-0-0, Nowaske 3-2-0, Reeves-Maybin 2-0-0, Robertson 2-0-0, Niemann 1-2-0, O’Connor 1-2-0, M.Adams 1-0-1, Onwuzurike 1-0-0, Paschal 1-0-0, Reader 0-2-0. San Francisco, Yiadom 6-1-0, Lenoir 5-4-0, Bosa 5-3-2, Hufanga 5-1-0, Mustapha 4-0-0, Winters 3-5-0, Warner 3-3-0, Green 2-2-0, Collins 2-0-0, Okuayinonu 2-0-0, Brown 1-1-0, Barrett 1-0-0, Flannigan-Fowles 1-0-0, Gross-Matos 1-0-0, Graham 0-2-0, Bethune 0-1-0, Elliott 0-1-0.
INTERCEPTIONS: Detroit, Joseph 2-39. San Francisco, None.
MISSED FIELD GOALS: San Francisco, Moody 58, Moody 51.
OFFICIALS: Referee Shawn Hochuli, Ump Terry Killens, HL Patrick Holt, LJ Tim Podraza, FJ Jason Ledet, SJ Jim Quirk, BJ Jimmy Russell, Replay Jamie Nicholson.
The outcome was fitting given the teams’ contrasting seasons: The 49ers (6-10) had been eliminated from playoff contention eight days earlier and the Lions (14-2) were poised to meet the Vikings on Sunday for the NFC’s No. 1 seed, regardless of the outcome of Monday’s game.
Also fitting given the 49ers’ injury marred season: Quarterback Brock Purdy suffered an elbow injury when he was sacked with 1:36 remaining.
After the game, Purdy said he’ll get an MRI on Tuesday and said his elbow “doesn’t feel the best” and that it was “on fire” after he got hit. The 49ers did UCL tests and ruled out a UCL injury – the injury that forced him out of the NFC Championship Game in Philadelphia against the Eagles in Jan. 2023.
After the 49ers rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit in January, the Lions overcame a 21-13 third-quarter hole on Monday.
And after third-quarter fumble by Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs was part of the 49ers’ spirited rally in the NFC title game, Purdy threw two second-half interceptions, both of which led to touchdown drives.
Finally, after Detroit head coach Dan Campbell went 0-for-2 on fourth down in the second half in the NFC title game – whiffs that were critical to the 49ers’ comeback – the Lions went 2-for-3 on fourth down Monday.
Detroit took a 31-28 lead late in the third quarter on All-Pro wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown’s 4-yard touchdown catch on 4th-and-goal. Rookie cornerback Renardo Green was oddly playing several yards off St. Brown at the goal line, which was perhaps a reason that television cameras captured general manager John Lynch slamming a table in frustration in a stadium suite after St. Brown’s score.
Purdy’s picks marred an otherwise brilliant performance in which he accounted for four touchdowns and had a perfect passer rating (158.3) in the first half. Purdy completed 27 for 35 passes for 377 yards with three touchdowns and his two picks, while adding a 9-yard rushing score.
The favorite target of the 49ers’ QB was rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, who had career highs in catches (eight) and receiving yards (141). Pearsall caught eight of 10 targets, with Purdy targeting him on each of his interceptions.
The 49ers had season-highs in first downs (25) and yards (475). But they lost for the fifth time in their past six games because they couldn’t stop the NFL’s second-ranked offense, which had 439 yards and went 11 of 17 on third and fourth down.
Lions QB Jared Goff completed 26 of 34 passes for 304 yards with three touchdowns and Gibbs (117 rushing yards) became the fifth player in the past six games to rush for 100-plus yards against the 49ers. Before the current stretch, the 49ers hadn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher in their previous 55 games, the longest streak in the NFL since 1955.
Niners kicker Jake Moody continued his second-half slump by missing field goals of 51 and 58 yards and missing his first extra point of the season. Moody, who had made his first 29 extra-point tries, has made just 10 of his past 17 field-goal attempts.
