The start couldn’t have been worse
The 49ers opponent started on defense, as they usually do. Once again, the 49ers gave up an opening score. David Montgomery ran up the middle for 15 yards. Sam LaPorta caught a 14-yard reception. Jameson Williams took advantage of poor tackling on his way to a 42-yard touchdown run.
It wasn’t the start defensive coordinator Steve Wilks had anticipated. Now, it’d be on Kyle Shanahan and the offense to answer. The offense got to 3rd & 9, but Brandon Aiyuk won his 1-on-1 matchup. After Brock Purdy took a shot on 2nd & 10 and completed a 15-yard pass to Deebo Samuel, Christian McCaffrey ran for seven yards to pick up another first down.
After McCaffrey was short of the sticks on 3rd & 11, Jake Moody’s 48-yard field goal was wide right. In the NFC Championship game, you can’t give away points. The reason the 49ers drafted Moody was to be as close to automatic as it gets.
It took the Lions two plays to reach 49er territory after a 14-yard pass to Montgomery. The defense forced a 3rd & 9, but failed to get off the field after Amon Ra St. Brown took a screen pass and converted.
Randy Gregory was the culprit on the following run play. He got turned around and allowed the running back to get outside of him. The Lions went out of their way to attack the 49ers’ aggression, and it worked to perfection. Detroit scored on an 11-play, 62-yard touchdown.
We’d get a chance to see the 49ers offense play from behind for the second consecutive week. Purdy used his legs to find Kyle Juszczyk for a 23-yard gain. The Niners were cooking in Lions’ territory, but it felt like the drive would be a waste if they didn’t get a touchdown out of it.