Lions Defeat 49ers 40-34: Purdy, Samuel Impress; Detroit Defense Shines – 49ers vs Lionsc

The 49ers made their first big play of the night when Brock Purdy hit rookie Ricky Pearsall for an eight-yard gain on fourth down inside Detroit’s 8-yard line on fourth down – turning over possession on downs, leading to 21-13 at halftime.

Even though they were plagued with injuries, the Niners’ offensive line managed to provide protection for Brock Purdy while opening up running lanes for Isaac Guerendo.

Offense

The Lions began the game strongly, moving the ball with ease up and down the field and not allowing a single incomplete pass until almost four minutes remained in the second quarter.

Part of this offensive onslaught was due to an improved play from the offensive line, who have improved their PFF pass blocking grade to 15th this season and helped fuel a ninth-ranked rush attack (even without Ameer Abdullah).

San Francisco attempted to respond with a short scoring drive capped off by Deebo Samuel’s 5-yard touchdown reception, but their next possession ended up going three and out before turning over on downs deep inside enemy territory. Pratt responded with a 57-yard field goal for Detroit that gave them a 28-13 advantage at halftime.

After halftime, Detroit continued its strong play by moving the ball effectively and scoring. On their opening drive of the third quarter, Goff found Sam LaPorta on a slant pattern for six yards on their opening drive of the third quarter; then when Detroit entered red zone again for fourth time and found St. Brown sneaking his way into endzone for score, Goff connected with St. Brown on hinge route for touchdown score.

Defense

Brock Purdy guided the 49ers to an opening-day victory against the Lions with an impressive performance as quarterback. This first-round selection found George Kittle and Chris Conley while also excelling in run game tactics. Meanwhile, fellow first-round selection Ricky Pearsall displayed his remarkable skills with several key receptions of his own.

Deebo Samuel and Jauan Jennings made key plays in the run game to help San Francisco control the clock and amass 260 yards through two quarters. Meanwhile, San Francisco’s defense, without top pass rusher Haloti Ngata but effective nonetheless in getting pressure on Detroit quarterbacks.

Defense held off a second-half rally by Detroit to seal their win. Detroit quarterback Jared Goff was ineffective, completing only 14 out of 34 attempts. Running back Tevin Coleman scored on an one-yard touchdown while backup quarterback Joshua Dobbs made his NFL debut with three completions for 35 yards, seven rushing yards, and an eventual one-yard score from running back Tevin Coleman.

The 49ers boast an excellent pass defense that ranks second in the league against teams attempting the most passes, yet will be put through its paces by an explosive Lions offense capable of stretching any team in the NFL. Since LB Aidan Hutchinson returned from injury in Week 7, their pass attempts of 15+ yards have been handled admirably; ranking fourth overall when blitzing, with 39.5% success rate and 0.17 EPA/dropback allowed (both fourth).

Special Teams

Detroit’s defense proved instrumental in an otherwise tight match. Safety Kerby Joseph made two key stops against San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy – including one early in the second quarter that set up a Detroit touchdown – as well as making an important play on special teams by intercepting Isaac Guerendo’s punt return, giving Detroit possession at the 50-yard line.

Detroit scored another huge special teams play during the third quarter when Jahmyr Gibbs took a handoff behind right side and broke through a gap created by Penei Sewell and Tim Patrick to score a 42-yard touchdown drive, only for it to end on an unsuccessful fourth down attempt from San Francisco as they tried to rally.

San Francisco’s special teams struggled, with kicker Phil Dawson missing two field goal attempts from 57 yards out. However, they did receive a huge break in the first half when Mitch Wishnowsky kicked a kickoff out of bounds for a touchback by Mitch Wishnowsky. Additionally, fullback Michael Moseley did not play any special teams snaps unlike in 2021 when he played numerous special team snaps; although perhaps this was acceptable given they lacked punt return or kickoff return specialists, but this should be monitored moving forward.

Head-to-Head

Even though both teams came into tonight with nothing left to play for, this game proved highly entertaining. The Lions used their offensive talent well but their defensive unit made all of the big plays to earn them a 40-34 victory.

San Francisco struck first in the second quarter when Deebo Samuel returned a kickoff to Detroit’s 40-yard line and started the 49ers on a nine-play drive downfield, culminating in Brock Purdy finding Kyle Juszczyk for a 9-yard touchdown pass from Brock Purdy. Detroit then responded on its subsequent possession by taking 10 plays downfield to score on running back Jameson Williams’ 3-yard touchdown run; kicker Jake Bates missed on his extra point attempt.

Jared Goff had another impressive outing for the Rams, completing 26 of 34 passes for 303 yards and three touchdowns en route to leaving with an elbow injury in the fourth quarter and is uncertain of his status for next week’s season finale against Minnesota Vikings.

Ricky Pearsall set his highest receiving yards total as a rookie and became the Lions receiver with the most receiving yards this season with 141 receiving yards, 8 receptions and the most touchdowns this year for any Lions receiver – all records for rookie receivers! Safety Kerby Joseph recorded two key interceptions for defense including an impressive one on 3rd down at the last minute that enabled Amon-Ra St Brown to score another touchdown on subsequent drive.