Lions, 49ers recap, highlights: Detroit outlasts SF in shootout win, 40-34

The Detroit Lions promised they were going to give it their all against the San Francisco 49ers, even if there was (almost) nothing on the line. They lived up to their word with another gritty win on “Monday Night Football.” Detroit will now finish the 2024 regular season undefeated on the road. But a huge home matchup with the Minnesota Vikings looms large for the NFC’s top seed next week.

As for the 49ers game, the Lions offense was humming all night, racking up over 440 yards of offense and posting 40 points for the sixth time this season. The defense looked miserable in the first half, but two Kerby Joseph interceptions in the second half helped propel the Lions to a two-score lead late, and they would hold that the rest of the game.

In the end, the Lions walked away with a 40-34 win, moving them to 14-2 on the season.

First quarter

The Lions won the toss and deferred, putting faith in their defense to kick off the game. After a good kickoff return, the 49ers started at their own 39-yard line. Riding Deebo Samuel as a rusher, San Francisco worked into Lions territory with relative ease. Then, Brock Purdy hit George Kittle on a play-action pass for 18 yards into the red zone. Detroit had an opportunity to get off the field, as San Francisco then faced a fourth-and-1 from the Lions’ 5-yard line, but Purdy ran a QB sneak for a first down. Two plays later, the 49ers scored on a 3-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Pearsall.

Jared Goff and the Lions would attempt to respond, starting on their own 35-yard line. Jahmyr Gibbs picked up an early third-and-2 on the ground and pushed Detroit to midfield. Gibbs would pick up 21 more yards on a stretch play, but after a failed trick play to Jameson Williams, Goff checked it down to Craig Reynolds—who took the ball all the way down to the 49ers 9-yard line on a 26-yard pickup.

Detroit then faced a third-and-goal from the 3-yard line, and a nifty run to Williams put the Lions on the board, but the extra point was blocked. 7-6 49ers.

The 49ers converted a big third-and-4 with a bobbling catch from Pearsall for 14 yards and got into Lions territory.

Then another play-action pass to Kittle sucked in all of the Lions linebackers, creating space for the 49ers tight end to earn 20 yards and into the red zone.

Second quarter

Yet another play-action pass earned the 49ers their next score on the first play of the second quarter. A play-action bootleg allowed fullback Kyle Juszczyk to break open and score on a 9-yard touchdown pass. 14-6 49ers.

Detroit was able to move into 49ers territory thanks to Goff finding LaPorta for a third-down conversion. A pair of Gibbs runs then went for 22 yards. A holding penalty and Goff sack appeared to stall the drive, but on third-and-12, the Lions ran yet another hook-and-ladder to perfection. St. Brown lateraled it to Williams, who took it up the sideline for a 41-yard touchdown. 14-13 49ers.

The Lions had another early opportunity to get off the field quickly, but on third-and-7, Purdy found Pearsall for 40 yards after Terrion Arnold was picked on the play by Brian Branch.

Purdy scrambled up the middle for a 9-yard touchdown and a 21-13 49ers lead.

A pair of passes to Gibbs moved Detroit to midfield and set up a third-and-3. Goff would hit St. Brown for a 4-yard gain to move the sticks, and hit him again for a 14-yard gain into the red zone as the clock moved to the two-minute warning. On the next set of downs, the Lions faced a fourth-and-3 from the 49ers’ 8-yard line. Of course, Detroit opted to go for it, but Goff couldn’t connect with LaPorta, and the 49ers took over with 1:13 left.

Despite being backed up in their own zone, the 49ers would threaten to add to their lead before the end of the half. That’s because Purdy hit Isaac Guerendo on a 40-yard bomb to kickstart the drive.

However, an offensive pass interference penalty and a missed 51-yard field goal kept the score at 21-13 49ers at halftime.

Third quarter

The Lions got the ball to start the second half, and quickly moved into 49ers territory thanks to a 12-yard strike to Jameson Williams on a third-and-5 play. On another third-and-5, Goff lobbed a beautiful ball to Allen Robinson for 21 yards down to the 49ers 10-yard line. Then, Goff hit LaPorta for a 6-yard touchdown.

Goff then hit Tim Patrick for a two-point conversion and an early, second half, 21-21 tie.

But the Lions defense could not seemingly get any stops. Despite starting inside their own 20-yard line, the 49ers only needed four plays to get inside the Lions’ 5-yard line. A 39-yard pass to a wide-open Pearsall and a 22-yard pass to Kittle did most of the dirty work.

San Francisco punched it in with a shovel pass to Deebo Samuel. 28-21 49ers.

The Lions tried to answer quickly, and a 28-yard pass to LaPorta got Detroit in business. But on third-and-3, Goff took a sack that nearly knocked the Lions out of field goal range. However, Jake Bates nailed a 57-yard field goal to make it 28-24 49ers with over four minutes remaining in the quarter.

Detroit’s defense finally came up with a play, granted it came with some help. Purdy overthrew a ball, and it landed right in the lap of Lions safety Kerby Joseph.

Detroit’s offense took over and dinked and dunked their way into the red zone. But Detroit then faced a third-and-goal from the 4-yard line and couldn’t punch it in. The Lions lined up to go for it again in the red zone, and this time, they converted to St. Brown for a 31-28 Lions lead with 19 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Fourth quarter

The Lions would finally get a defensive stop. Purdy connected with Kittle on an absolutely perfect pass for 18 yards down into Lions territory, but then he threw three straight incompletions. Amik Robertson picked up a key third-down pass breakup, which led to a 58-yard field goal attempt from Moody—who missed it again.

The Lions took over on their own 48-yard line with an opportunity to go up two scores for the first time all game. Unfortunately, Detroit instead went three-and-out. But instead of punting, the Lions opted to go for it from the 49ers’ 45-yard line on fourth-and-3. Goff found a wide open LaPorta for 19 yards.

However, the drive stalled quickly thereafter, and Detroit had to settle for a 42-yard field goal attempt and Bates was true with 10:29 left. 34-28 Lions.

Detroit’s defense got off to a promising start on this series with a sack from Myles Adams and a delay of game penalty. However, the 49ers pulled themselves out of the hole and converted on a third-and-5 to keep the drive alive with another pass to Pearsall. A short pass to Jauan Jennings got another 15 yards tacked onto it following a late shove from Brian Branch.

But Branch’s safety-mate bailed him out on the next play: Joseph jumped a route to pick off Purdy for the second time.

Detroit had 7:34 left and the ball to hold their lead or add to it. The Lions went to the ground game to try and grind out the rest of the game. Then, a play-action pass to Williams earned a first down and moved Detroit to the 49ers’ 38-yard line. On third-and-2, Gibbs put the game away with a 30-yard touchdown run—Bates missed the extra point. 40-28 Lions.

The 49ers furiously tried to mount a comeback with less than three minutes remaining. Brock Purdy would be knocked out of the game late, but Joshua Dobbs led the 49ers to a late touchdown to make it 40-34 Lions with 43 seconds left.

San Francisco’s only chance would be an onside kick, but the kick went out of bounds and the Lions kneeled out the rest of the clock.