There were no handshake incidents this time around only a San Francisco defense standing tall in a 27-19 victory over the Detroit Lions Sunday night.
The Lions’ vaunted pass offense was silenced by the San Francisco secondary as they held Calvin Johnson to eight catches for 94 yards and no touchdowns. And instead of relying on his number one target quarterback Matthew Stafford had to turn his attention to a relatively unreliable running game in hopes of generating any offense.
On the ground Detroit accumulated 82 total yards rushing while Stafford was 19 for 32 with 230 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Stafford was also denied of a milestone as he missed a chance to become the first player in NFL history to throw for 350 yards in five straight games.
On the defensive side of the ball for Detroit, they were able to fair better against Frank Gore who ran all over them in last seasons 25-19 defeat from Ford Field. Sunday night though Gore was still effective rushing for 89 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown.
The secondary though remains an issue for Detroit as Alex Smith was able to exploit it from the start.
The former first overall pick, Smith completed 20 of 31 throws for 226 yards and extended his franchise-record streak of passes without an interception to 216. This included an opening drive touchdown pass to Vernon Davis which beat John Wendling who was starting in place for an injured Louis Delmas.
Aside from the Lions’ final drive in which Stafford found Brandon Pettrigrew for a 9 yard touchdown pass the San Francisco defense limited Detroit to field goals the entire game. Veteran Lions place kicker Jason Hanson finished with field goals of 38, 41, 40 and 48 yards. He also missed one off the right upright on a 40-yard attempt late in the second quarter.
Detroit now heads into next weekends matchup against the Tennessee Titans looking to healthy in the secondary and establish some effectiveness in the running game.
h/t: Associated Press
