SANTA CLARA – Here is how the 49ers (6-10) graded in Monday night’s 40-34 home finale against the Detroit Lions (14-2):
PASS OFFENSE: D+
Brock Purdy emerged with an injured throwing elbow, two seasons after an ulnar collateral ligament tear and only a week before he becomes eligible for a much-anticipated contract extension worth potentially $50 million or more annually. Purdy survived over 58 minutes of this game playing behind an offensive line with newcomers installed at left tackle and left guard, but when he got sacked a second time this night, a Lions’ defender impacted Purdy’s surgically repaired elbow and sent him to the sideline. Purdy’s first half was spectacular (14-of-16, 200 yards, two touchdowns; one rushing touchdown), but a pair of interceptions in the second half would doom the 49ers’ comeback and usurp his career-high 377 yards. His exit overshadowed all else on this night, including Ricky Pearsall’s breakout performance (141 yards, eight catches, the 49ers’ first touchdown) and George Kittle’s fourth 1,000-yard season (112 yards, eight catches). Kyle Juszczyk and Deebo Samuel caught Purdy’s other touchdown passes, perhaps their final from him if the 49ers deem them expendable and too expensive in the offseason.
RUN OFFENSE: D
Kyle Shanahan’s play calls turned this into an aerial shootout. After opening with three Deebo Samuel runs (for 16 yards) on the first four snaps, he never had another carry. The 49ers had only three runs after halftime, including backup quarterback Josh Dobbs’ last-minute touchdown scramble. Isaac Guerendo (nine carries, team-high 34 yards) had an 11-yard run to help the 49ers’ second touchdown drive; he also made 40- and 8-yard catches on a second-quarter drive). Purdy’s 9-yard touchdown run 6:13 before halftime marked his team-high fifth rushing touchdown this season.
PASS DEFENSE: D-
Nick Bosa produced his best game of the season, reeling off two sacks, four quarterback hits and eight tackles (four for loss). “I wish we were going to the tournament so he could play longer,” Shanahan said. They’re not going to the playoffs for the first time since 2020 because of repeated communication breakdowns, blown assignments and, for the sixth straight game, no interceptions. Marin County native and Cal product Jared Goff snapped a six-game skid against the 49ers by passing for 303 yards and three touchdowns. Renardo Green had a fourth-down pass breakup in the end zone, and that type of play should give the 49ers confidence for his potential as a 2025 starter.
RUN DEFENSE: F
The 49ers allowed a 100-yard rusher (Jahmyr Gibbs, 117 yards, 18 carries) for a third straight game and their fifth in seven games, after none the previous 55 regular-season games! They also yielded two more touchdown runs – a 3-yarder by Jameson Williams on the Lions’ first score, a 30-yarder by Gibbs on their last – to raise the season total to 22, three shy of the franchise-high allowed in 2016. Linebacker Fred Warner: “It’s too many just, ‘my bads.’ Everybody having their one play out there (not) being on it. I’ll always look at myself in how I can do better bringing everybody along.”
SPECIAL TEAMS: F
Jake Moody missed field-goal attempts of 51 yards (“a just got to have it situation” just before halftime, Shanahan said) and 58 yards (in between the 49ers’ two drives that ended on interceptions). His miserable night ended with a missed point-after kick in the final minute. Moody’s missed 8-of-18 field-goal attempts since returning from an Oct. 6 ankle injury that sidelined him three games and perhaps should have shelved him longer. When Moody missed the 58-yarder, Deebo Samuel acted aghast but restrained himself from repeating the Nov. 10 showdown at Tampa Bay. The 49ers did not punt in this game. Samuel averaged 32 yards on four kick returns.
COACHING: F
The 49ers resembled their 2023 unit then reverted after halftime into this season’s last-place misfits. It’s not surprising they, after all this season’s second-half collapses, couldn’t keep pace with a Lions team that’s scored 40 points for a sixth time this season. If Purdy’s elbow injury – with 1:36 to go, as a sitting duck behind backup linemen, in a meaningless game — proves more than just a nerve stinger, then that will have ramifications impacting the 2025 rebound. Hey, but on a positive note, the 49ers’ last-place finish assures them three games next season against last-place opponents: the New York Giants, the Chicago Bears and the Cleveland Browns. Scoring 34 was enough to beat Detroit for last season’s NFC Championship, not this rematch when Detroit hung 40 instead of last year’s 31.