Will it be the Niners?
Detroit would receive the ball to begin the second half. Unsurprisingly, they scored. Amon Ra-St. Brown caught a 13-yard pass to begin the drive. On third down, Green had perfect coverage, but better offense beats better defense. Jameson Williams came down with a perfect throw from Goff. Then, Allen Robinson beat Isaac Yiadom for a gain of 21 yards. Sam LaPorta followed that up by beating Yiadom in the end zone, who would also allow the two-point conversion.
That made it 21-21. And if you thought the scoring would stop there, then you hadn’t been paying attention.
Jauan Jennings joined the party with a 13-yard gain to open the drive. Ricky Pearsall followed that up with a 39-yard reception. Pearsall became the first Niners rookie with 100 receiving yards and a touchdown in a game since Deebo Samuel did in 2019. Speaking of Deebo, he ran it in on a shovel pass for five yards to put the 49ers back up seven, 28-21.
The Lions looked like they would score again after they began the drive with a 28-yarder. Dee Winters was injured in the play. That’s been an issue all season for the young linebacker. Nick Bosa bailed that unit out with a sack on third down to force a long field goal. Unlike Jake Moody, the Lions kicker nailed it from 57 yards to make the score 28-24.
After Kittle drew a defensive pass interference, Purdy airmailed a throw over the middle to Pearsall. Kirby Joseph returned it to San Francisco’s 43-yard line. It was a pass that sailed on Purdy, which we have grown accustomed to this season. The 49ers could have taken control of the game but instead gave Detroit exactly what they needed.
The Lions, thanks to a Hufanga missed tackle, gained nine yards on the first play. They’d get inside the 49ers 5-yard line. Bosa, who had been the only defender to generate pressure to this point, made a play on third and goal. But a coverage bust between Green and Deommodore Lenoir left a receiver wide open to give Detroit a 31-28 lead.