The 49ers Barely Hold On, Beat The Lions 30-27

by Andrew Pasquini – Sports 1140 KHTK

The San Francisco 49ers were saved by a holding penalty on the opposite side of where the ball was but thanks to the holding call, the 49ers were able to move to 1-1.

After leading 30-13 in the fourth quarter, the 49ers would allow 14 unanswered points and gave the Detroit Lions the ball with a chance to tie it late in the game but the Lions were unable to score and the 49ers held on for a 30-27 win.

The 49ers offense was carried by running back Matt Breida. He had 11 carries for 138 yards and a touchdown including back-to-back carries that resulted in a 20-yard gain and a 66-yard touchdown that included some incredible blocking from Pierre Garçon.

Outside of Breida, the 49ers offense showed signs of struggle. Jimmy Garoppolo opted to take sacks instead of forcing the ball into tight coverage like he did last week, which led to him being sacked five times. Garoppolo finished the game completing 18 of 26 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns. His first touchdown pass was a 4-yard pass to Kendrick Bourne in the second quarter and the second was an 11-yard pass to Garrett Celek which followed a 90-yard kickoff return from DJ Reed Jr. that was originally a touchdown but was called back due to a facemask call against Reed.

Garoppolo’s worst play of the game came at the worst possible time but was negated by a defensive holding call. The 49ers had the ball with a chance to put the game away up 30-27 with 2:24 remaining when Garoppolo threw a pass intended for Breida but Tracy Walker jumped the route and ran it back to the 7-yard line to give the Lions a chance to take the lead. However, there was a flag on the field and Quandre Diggs was called for a defensive holding which took away the interception and gave the 49ers the chance to take more time off the clock.

The 49ers pass defense struggled throughout the day as well, giving up 347 passing yards to Matthew Stafford but were bailed out multiple times as potential big plays were spoiled by Stafford overthrowing open receivers that could have easily lead to touchdowns. The Lions offensive strategy seemed to be ignore Richard Sherman because they threw no passes toward Sherman all game but the Lions seemed to be content throwing towards Ahkello Witherspoon who ultimately was benched in the fourth quarter for Jimmie Ward.

Quick hits

• Robbie Gould finished the game 3-for-3 on field goal attempts today hitting from 45, 42, and 36 yards. That makes 29 consecutive made field goals for Gould, which sets the franchise record previously held by Phil Dawson who made 27 consecutive in 2013.
• While an improvement from last week, the 49ers still struggled inside the red zone, only scoring two touchdowns on five trips inside the Lions 20-yard line.
• Second-year linebacker Elijah Lee made his first career NFL start today and led the team with twelve tackles. He also had a strip-sack of Matthew Stafford which led to a 49er field goal.
• Matt Breida’s 66-yard touchdown run was the longest run of his NFL career and his 138 yards sets a new career high for the second-year running back.

Next week

The 49ers will head to Aarowhead stadium to take on Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Mahomes threw for six touchdowns in Week 2 leading the Chiefs to a 42-37 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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