And then, Jake Moody happened
It was a game that meant virtually nothing to the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions.
The 49ers playoff hopes ended last week, and the Monday night tilt wouldn’t change any playoff implications for the Lions Week 18 game against the Vikings. But despite the lack of consequences with a loss for either side, the 49ers and Lions put on one entertaining football game.
San Francisco came up on the short side of the 40-34 score but put together one of their most competitive performances of the 2024 season. The 49ers Week 17 loss, in review:
A near-perfect first half from the offense, only to be ruined by Jake Moody
That feeling missing all season returned on Monday night, if only for a brief half of football.
The 49ers’ offense struggled to reproduce its production in 2023, but in the first half, it re-captured that form against an injured Lions defense.
San Francisco always needed to score plenty of points to keep up with Detroit’s high-powered offense. Those points came early and often, with the 49ers opening the scoring with an opening drive touchdown for the first time since Week 14 against the Bears. Brock Purdy was perfect on the first drive, leading the 49ers offense on an 11-play, 61-yard drive to give the 49ers the early 7-0 lead.
The offense would get back to work, holding to a 7-6 lead after the defense conceded an opening drive touchdown. But the offense would get back to work, constructing an eight-play, 70-yard drive to snatch the lead right back. Again, Purdy was perfect, completing all four passes before finishing with a touchdown pass to Kyle Juszczyk.
San Francisco’s third drive was more of the same. Detroit responded to San Francisco’s second touchdown-scoring drive with a touchdown of their own, forcing the 49ers offense to respond again. Purdy reached back and uncorked a 40-yard pass to Ricky Pearsall to get the 49ers into the red zone before Purdy would use his legs to get into the end zone, capping off a seven-play, 70-yard drive to give the 49ers a 21-13 lead.
The 49ers would get the chance to finish off the first half a perfect four-for-four on touchdown drives, but they would have to travel a lot of field in not a lot of time. Taking over with 1:13 left in the first half at the San Francisco eight-yard line after a Detroit turnover on downs, Purdy would use his arm to flip the field. The quarterback would hit Isaac Guerendo for 40 yards along the sideline near midfield to, at minimum, set up a half-expiring field goal attempt.
And settle for the kick they would. With a chance to enter halftime with an 11-point lead, Jake Moody lined up for a 51-yard field goal. And despite the solid half from the offense, it could have been made much better with a made kick, but Moody’s attempt was wide right. Detroit would get the ball to start the half, and 10 plays later, the game would be tied.
San Francisco’s offense had its best half of the season and had a chance to take a two-possession lead against a much better Lions team. But as it’s happened plenty of times in 2024, special teams got involved, and things went south.
Second and long was Detroit’s comfort spot
The Lions offense entered and exited Levi’s Stadium on Monday night as the highest-scoring offense in the league. It was expected that they would score points against the 49ers, and the 49ers defense needed to take every chance possible to minimize that damage.
San Francisco got those chances to slow down Detroit, but unfortunately, the defense couldn’t capitalize, and the Lions finished with 40 points and won.
The first of those chances came on the Lions’ first offensive drive of the night. An attempted end-around for Jameson Williams was stopped for a loss of five by Maliek Collins, setting Detroit up with a second-and-15. The long distance didn’t seem to bother Jared Goff, who gladly took a check down to Craig Reynolds, who made the first man miss, turning the short pass into 26 yards and a first down. Three plays later, the Lions scored their first touchdown.
San Francisco’s defense would get an even better chance on the ensuing drive to make a stop, but again, Detroit went unbothered. A first down holding by Penei Sewell, followed by a Nick Bosa sack, set the Lions up with a second-and-24. They couldn’t get all the yardage back on second down, settling for a gain of 11 on a short pass to Jahmyr Gibbs to set up a third-and-long. That’s when the Lions’ offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson, would reach deep into his bag of tricks, calling for a perfectly executed hook-and-ladder for Williams for a 41-yard touchdown to make it a 14-13 game.
The long second downs continued into the second half, with the Lions facing a second-and-11 after a Bosa tackle for loss on the opening drive of the third quarter. This time, the Lions would use Gibbs on the ground to pick up six to set up a third-and-5. Goff would find Allen Robinson on the sideline against Isaac Yiadom for a gain of 21 to set up a goal-to-go situation. The Lions would score its third touchdown three plays later to tie the game at 21.
Three second-and-long situations that the 49ers’ defense couldn’t stop would lead to touchdowns for the Lions. In a game where every stop would matter, even one stop on one of these three drives could have altered the game’s outcome.
Two bad throws spoiled Purdy’s good game
If you picked two specific throws and removed them from Purdy’s stats from Monday night, the third-year quarterback would have had a hell of a game. 27-for-33 for 377 yards and three touchdowns would be among the best games of Purdy’s young career.
Unfortunately, the two specific throws we just removed were both interceptions, taking that impressive stat line above and turning it into 27-for-35 for 337 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions. But it’s not just the number of picks but the timing of both that ruined what would have been a career game for Purdy.
Even with Moody’s missed field goal at the half, the 49ers had a chance to extend the lead to double digits as the game neared the fourth quarter. With a 28-24 lead, Purdy gave a quick scare, throwing what appeared to be an interception, but the interception was only made because of a Detroit pass interference. That quick scare would turn into a nightmare on the next play, as Purdy had a pass sail over the head of Pearsall into the waiting arms of of Kerby Joseph. Instead of San Francisco taking a two-score lead, Detroit would use the field position from the interception to score a touchdown and take its first lead of the evening.
After a second Moody miss followed by a second Jake Bates field goal, Purdy would get a chance to redeem himself with the 49ers trailing by six early in the fourth quarter. The drive would have a rocky start, with Purdy taking a sack and a delay of game, but the offense would get back on track with two passes to Pearsall, gaining 29 yards. After the offense got into plus territory, Purdy again locked onto Pearsall, but Joseph followed his eyes this time. Purdy would throw to Pearsall, and Joseph would jump the route for the interception, ending both the 49ers drive and hopes of a win.
The two interceptions set a new career-high for Purdy and were the dark cloud in an otherwise solid night for the quarterback.