Last Monday, when it was clear the result of Week 17 against the San Francisco 49ers might not matter in terms of winning the NFC North and the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs, and it would be known before taking the field on Monday night if it did matter, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell confirmed what his team's approach would be against the San Francisco 49ers.
"I’ll make this easy for everybody, that way all the critics can jump out and start attacking. But that way you don’t have to debate them anymore," Campbell said. "We are bringing everything we’ve got into this game and we are playing, and I don’t care what it looks like and where it’s at. Or who’s this? Who’s that? We’re going out to win this game out on the west coast.”
With the Minnesota Vikings beating the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, Monday night's result was indeed meaningless in terms of the stakes of the Week 18 game when the Vikings pay a visit to Ford Field. So the idea the Lions would, or even should, rest players on Monday night took new legs.
But we also knew Campbell, shy of a blowout, was not going to change the approach.
Lions maintain winning edge as they assert their will over the 49ers
The Lions' defense really struggled in the first half against the 49ers, and they trailed 21-13 at halftime. Detroit had the ball first to start the second half, they marched right down and scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion to tie the game. The momentum shifted, ultimately irretrievably for San Francisco.
The Lions outscored the 49ers 27-13 in the second half on Monday night, or really 27-6 as a practical matter before the 49ers scored a garbage time touchdown to make the final score 40-34. Safety Kerby Joseph had two clutch interceptions to further squash anything the 49ers' offense could get going in the second half.
There is no such thing as a "meaningless game" for Dan Campbell's Detroit Lions, also reflected by what players have said. There was risk in the "we are bringing everything we've got" approach Monday night, and we'd be having a different conversation if a notable Lions' player had been injured. But the Lions were not going to let off the gas against the 49ers, and they were able to impose their will on a team that eventually begged to be beaten. Just as importantly, they came out of the game as healthy as they were going in.