Lions vs 49ers Report Card: Detroit’s comeback falls short in Week 1

Defense- 1.5/5 Stars

Yes, the defense managed two takeaways. However, they also gave up 442 total yards and forced just two third downs in the first half.

There isn’t much to say about the defense as a whole, they struggled mightily in every area, and it was not very much fun to watch.

Best defensive player: Trey Flowers

Flowers wasn’t exactly exceptional in this game, but he did force a fumble to give Detroit’s offense a chance to tie the game. While they couldn’t capitalize, Flowers is the only reason this game didn’t end sooner and that should be recognized in an otherwise porous effort from this defense.

Worst defensive player(s): The entire secondary

It took Detroit nearly the entire first half to force a single incomplete pass, that’s bad.

Jimmy Garoppolo threw for over 300 yards for the first time since December of 2019, that’s bad.

Jeff Okudah had an up and down game, he showed flashes in coverage but got beat repeatedly still. Amani Oruwariye got beat several times including giving up the opening score of the game. And Will Harris missed multiple tackles, hearkening back to his struggles of the past couple of seasons.

This is a very young secondary, with Oruwariye being the elder statesmen at just 25 years of age. But you have to hope they can turn it around quickly, otherwise, the Lions will be in for a lot of games just like this one.

Special Teams: 4/5 Stars

Jack Fox was good, averaging over 50 yards a punt on three attempts. And the punt coverage was effective, with the longest return being just 11 yards.

The kick coverage was good too, giving up a long of 19 yards in 4 tries by Ambry Thomas.

New kicker Auston Seibert hit a field goal from 49 yards and missed his other attempt from 51 yards away. But he also managed to kick a successful onside kick so that also was nice to see.

Special teams did their jobs and kept the game alive late, that’s a solid day’s work for Dave Fipp’s unit.