SANTA CLARA – Head coach Dan Campbell said this week he was bringing all the resources available to him to the west coast to face a San Francisco 49ers team that knocked the Detroit Lions out of the playoffs last year in the NFC Championship Game.
Even with Sunday night's game vs. Minnesota being for the NFC North title and the No. 1 seed no matter what happened Monday vs. San Francisco, it was a game Campbell and the Lions wanted to win. The win over the 49ers was important for the Lions in that a tie next week vs. Minnesota will now give the Lions the division title too.
Detroit has won a lot of football games a lot of different ways this season. Monday night, they needed the offense to win a high scoring affair, 40-34, with just enough help from two huge second-half interceptions by safety Kerby Joseph mixed in to notch their franchise-record 14th victory of the season.
Quarterback Jared Goff threw three touchdown passes and wide receiver Jameson Williams had a rushing and receiving touchdown as Detroit's offense racked up 439 total yards.
Recap: San Francisco opened the scoring with an 11-play opening drive capped off by a 3-yard touchdown grab by rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall from quarterback Brock Purdy.
Detroit countered right back on their first possession of the game marching down the field in nine plays and scoring on a 3-yard Williams touchdown run on a reverse. Jake Bates' extra point try was blocked.
San Francisco's second possession ended with Purdy finding an open Kyle Juszczyk for a 9-yard touchdown. Purdy didn't throw an incomplete pass (7-for-7) in the 49ers' first two possessions and the Juszczyk touchdown pushed their lead to 14-6.
The Lions made it 14-13 on their next possession on a 3rd & 12 play from the 49ers' 42-yard line where Goff hit wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown on a 1-yard slant at the 49ers' 41-yard line and he lateraled to Williams, who took it the rest of the way down the right sideline for his second touchdown of the contest.
San Francisco scored their third touchdown in as many possessions on a 9-yard scramble up the middle through the Lions' defense by Purdy and into the end zone to take a 21-13 lead.
Detroit tried to chip into the lead further late in the second quarter but turned it over on downs at the 49ers' 8-yard line when a Goff pass to tight end Sam LaPorta was a little late and went incomplete on 4th & 3.
San Francisco led 21-13 at the half after kicker Jake Moody missed a 51-yard field goal in the final seconds.
Detroit opened the second half with the football and marched down the field in 10 plays and punched it into the end zone on a 6-yard strike from Goff to LaPorta. Wide receiver Tim Patrick added a two-point conversion reception, and the game was tied at 21-21.
San Francisco responded with a quick scoring drive capped off by a Deebo Samuel 5-yard touchdown reception from Purdy, his third touchdown pass of the contest to go up 28-21.
A Bates 57-yard field goal midway through the third quarter trimmed the lead to 28-24. Detroit's defense then came up with their first big play of the game as Joseph intercepted a high pass from Purdy intended for Pearsall over the middle and returned it to the San Francisco 43-yard line.
The turnover led to a 4-yard Goff to St. Brown touchdown on 4th & goal to give the Lions their first lead of the game late in the third quarter. It was Goff's third touchdown pass of the night and his fourth straight game with at least three touchdown throws.
A Moody 58-yard field goal miss early in the fourth quarter gave the Lions terrific field position at their own 48-yard line. Bates turned that into a 42-yard field goal and a 34-28 Lions lead. Bates established a new single-season franchise record for points scored on the kick, passing Jason Hanson's previous record of 134 points in 2012.
Joseph helped seal the game for the Lions, picking off Purdy for the second time, this one at the Lions' 24-yard line with seven and a half minutes left in the game. Detroit turned the interception into a 30-yard Jahmyr Gibbs touchdown and a 40-28 lead.
The 49ers got a late Joshua Dobbs touchdown run in the final minute but couldn't convert the onside kick and the Lions ended the game in victory formation.
QB comparison: Goff was terrific once again completing 26 of his 34 passes for 303 yards with three touchdowns, no interceptions and a 132.4 passer rating.
Purdy was also good as he completed 27-of-35 attempts for 377 yards with three touchdowns, two interceptions and a 116.0 rating.
After a late sack on Purdy by safety Brian Branch, Dobbs came into the game for the 49ers and completed three of his four passes for 35 yards with a late 7-yard touchdown run.
Key stat: The Lions were 9-for-14 on third down, 2-for-3 on fourth down and 3-for-4 in the red zone.
Injury report: None to report
Up next: vs. Minnesota (14-2), Jan. 5, 8:20 p.m.
