The NFC Championship came down to three plays: a dropped pass, a dropped potential interception, and a turnover. And that’s all she wrote. The Detroit Lions had the San Francisco 49ers on the ropes and they let them off the hook.
It’s a hard and painful lesson that the Lions learned against the 49ers. That lesson is that you have to be able to close the deal. The Lions were not able to close the deal against the team in the Bay Area, and that is why they’ll be at home watching Super Bowl LVIII.
The Lions looked like world-beaters in the first half against San Francisco. Quarterback Jared Goff had found his groove early and constantly shredded the Niners’ defense with one crisp throw after another.
On top of that, Detroit had the ground game working to perfection. Yeah, it all looked like a Detroit avalanche was about to take place on San Francisco’s home turf as the Lions jumped out to a 24-7 halftime lead. Uh-oh.
A brewing upset was truly in the making. But then the Niners regrouped at intermission, regained their swag, and ended up rallying for a 34-31 win to advance to Super Bowl LVIII.
“Give those guys, you know, a lot of credit,” Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell said after the game. “We knew they wouldn’t go away and they made the plays today.”
In the first half, it was the Lions making all the right plats at the right time as they built up a 17-point advantage. The Lions’ downfall started on Detroit’s first series of the third quarter.
After watching San Francisco kick a field goal on their first drive of the half, Goff and the Lions got the ball back and looked every bit in command of the game on their second possession. Looking to tack on some more points, Detroit drove deep into San Francisco territory.
On fourth down, instead of going for the traditional field goal try, Campbell elected to go for it. Detroit wide receiver Josh Reynolds dropped Goff’s next pass and the Lions had to turn the ball over on downs.
On the next series, San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy threw a deep pass that went for 51 yards that somehow Brandon Aiyuk managed to come up with after the ball bounded off the facemask of Kindle Vildor, who was in perfect position for the interception. Vildor misjudged the ball and Aiyuk came up with the reception.
It was all downhill for the Lions from there. The Niners would score a touchdown following Aiyuk’s catch. On the very next series, Detroit running back Jahmyr Gibbs fumbled the ball. The Niners cashed in again, and just like that the ballgame was tied. San Francisco would eventually score 27 straight points to take command of the game.
A late touchdown by Detroit was nothing more than empty decorations. The damage had been done. The Lions completely unraveled and gave away a game they assumed they had in the bag. But in the NFL, no lead is safe until the clock hits triple zero.
“It’s hard when you lose that way,” Campbell said. “It’s hard. You feel like you get your heart ripped out.”
Top Photo Caption: Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) goes back to pass against the Los Angeles Chargers during an NFL game played at SoFi Stadium during the 2023 season. Photo credit: Sammy Saludo/News4usonline.com
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, social justice, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University.