Week 1 Post Match Review: 49ers at Lions

By Scooter_McG

The 49ers have started the season 1-0 for the second time in the Kyle Shanahan era, this time beating the Lions 41-33. Starting the season with the W is nice, and there were some positives to take away, but also some negatives that really take the gloss off this one. 

The game ended up a lot closer than it should have after the 49ers led the game 38-10 and 41-17. The Lions came back and had the ball at the 49ers 25 with a full set of downs and a chance to tie it late in the game, but the defense did enough to close it out with a some good plays from Dontae Johnson, Azeez Al-Shaair and Samson Ebukam. 

Here's what stood out to me.

Jimmy Garoppolo was sharp. Jimmy G finished the game 17/25 for 314 yards and a TD, and looked sharp throughout the game. He didn't make any of his usual boneheaded decisions and the only ball that was at risk of being intercepted was a deflection. His 79 yard TD to Deebo Samuel may not have been the prettiest pass you'll ever see, but he did a great job of standing tall in the face of the rush and recognising his WR was one-on-one with a defender that his back turned, allowing him to just put the ball in the vicinity and let Deebo make a play on the ball. Jimmy also did a great job avoiding pressure on a few occasions and making positive plays out of dangerous situations. Jimmy gets a game ball for this one, and was a key reason for the 49ers victory.

Deebo was targeted often and delivered, but then there was the fumble. Deebo had a monster game as he bullied whichever defender covered him throughout the game. He finished with 9 catches for 189 yards and the TD from Jimmy G. Deebo was particularly effective on the deep cross. However, he had the opportunity to put the game to bed with his third down reception late in the game, picking up first down yardage, but then allowed the defender to punch the ball out and set up a grandstand finish for the Lions. He had a great game, but he needs to have greater awareness at the end of the game. 

Elijah Mitchell looked good, but running game stalled in second half. Elijah Mitchell got plenty of action in this one (in part due to injury - more on that later) and he showed some nice elusiveness and toughness to pick up yards after contact on his debut. He finished with 104 yards on 19 carries including a 38 yard scamper for a TD.  The running game looked good in the first half, however, in the second stanza the Lions largely stifled the run game and prevented the 49ers from getting the edge. 

Offensive line was solid. The offensive line paved the way for a 31-10 lead at half time, providing nice holes for the running game and keeping pressure off the QBs. They remained solid in the second half, with the team only allowing one sack (on a corner blitz where the CB was not picked up by the RB), but the running game was bottled up as the offensive line was unable to create much space for the backs. Overall, it was a promising start for the offensive line, though it would have been nice to see the team continue to bully a Lions defensive line that is decent but nothing great. 

Trey Lance got his first taste of the NFL, with some ups and downs. Lance has the distinction of having thrown the 49ers first TD of the 2021 season, with a nice 5 yard toss to Trent Sherfield. He also had three runs on the day, but the Lions were all over each of the run attempts and shut them down very quickly. It was nice to see Lance get some game action, but the Lance run packages seemed like the least dangerous runs of the 49ers. If the 49ers hadn't allowed the Lions to mount their comeback I'm sure he would have seen some more action late in this one. 

Where was Aiyuk? As good as Deebo was, the lack of opportunities for Aiyuk was equally noteworthy. Aiyuk struggled during preseason and it appears the strong play of Sherfield has convinced the team to let he and Aiyuk split snaps. Sherfield saw the field early and often throughout the game in place of Aiyuk. And Aiyuk was held without a target. It is a startling fall down the pecking order for Aiyuk, who many believed was poised for a huge season and would be the 49ers #1 WR this year. After the game Shanahan indicated the recent hamstrong issues were a factor in the limited opportunities, but hopefully this isn't another Dante Pettis situation unfolding.  

Aaron Banks and Trey Sermon didn't suit up. While Banks sitting out was not unexpected, Sermon being a healthy scratch was a real shocker. That is the 49ers 2nd and 3rd round picks not suiting up for this one. Not a great look for the draft process. 

Interior of the defensive line got pushed around. The 49ers were without Javon Kinlaw in the middle, but throughout camp and preseason the talk had been that the defensive line, in particular the interior of the defensive line, was the strongest and deepest unit on the team. It didn't look that way in this one though. The DTs were routinely pushed out of the play or allowed to run themselves out of the play, opening some huge holes for the Lions running backs through the middle. The Lions running game allowed them to keep it close for most of the first half, and keep the 49ers from teeing off on Goff in the second half as the Lions mounted a comeback. Significant improvement is needed moving forward as the schedule gets tougher. 

Pass rush was good in the first half, but got gassed. The 49ers did a nice job of pressuring Goff early in the game, and pretty much throughout the first half. However, the 49ers also struggled at times in the second half mounting much of a pass rush, giving Goff plenty of time late in the game to find his receivers and keep the comeback on track. Again, the talk of the offseason was the quality and depth of this unit, but when Bosa and Ford were off the field the team did not seem to give a depleted Lions offensive line much trouble. 

Dee Ford was excellent. While the defensive line was a little disappointing overall, one guy that really stood out was Dee Ford. He caused the INT, and also had a sack, as well as creating pressure on a couple of other plays. Nick Bosa also showed flashes on his return, with a couple of bull rushes that really rocked Sewell and led to one sack. Street also had some nice plays including his first ever sack.

Deommodore Lenoir held his own. With Moseley out, Demo got the start at LCB. Bar a pass intereference penalty he played strong throughout the game with some tight coverage and as a result was rarely tested. It was a promising start to his career for the rookie, which is a good thing as he may be needed to play a significant role this year (more on this later).    

Injuries reared their ugly head. Hard not to feel sorry for Jason Verrett. He finally was able to put together a healthy season in 2020 and had an excellent season. But he went down in the fourth quarter with what looked like a serious knee injury. Verrett was very emotional coming from the field, no doubt fearing the worst. We'll need to wait for tests to come back but at this stage it doesn't look good. Losing Verrett for an extended period of time would be a huge loss for the 49ers at a position with limited depth (and based on tweets I am hearing the team believes it is an ACL and season ender). A lot of pressure now goes on newly signed Josh Norman and the rookie Lenoir. 

Mostert also went out early with a knee injury, though it didn't look to be as serious. While a number of other players spent some time on the sidelines with knicks. After managing to avoid major injuries for the most part through camp, it appears the 49ers injury luck has resurfaced.

The team struggled to close this one out. The 49ers have historically been sluggish week 1 under Kyle Shanahan, in particular on offense. That wasn't the case in this one - a botched snap to start aside, the 49ers offense was nigh unstoppable in the first half. And while the defense had some struggles against the run, they did a good job of not breaking most of the first half and came up with a big pick-6 to blow the game open late in the half. However, the second half was a completely different story. A few miscues on offense that stalled some drives, as well as some penalties on defense and ongoing struggles stopping the run, allowed the Lions to stop bleeding points and stay in the game. Then in the fourth quarter the team allowed the Lions to wrest momentum away and get on a roll, with Goff steadily picking up yards and gaining confidence while the run game continued to provide a nice foil. Even so, the Lions comeback should have been nothing more than some late consolation points, but Kittle failed to handle a difficult onside kick, and then Deebo fumbled after picking up what would have been the match sealing first down. 

It's only week 1 and some sloppiness can be expected, but these miscues and struggles in finishing off an opponent and closing out games is not a new thing for the 49ers or Shanahan. They need to be better in this regard. 

Final Verict

At half time the 49ers looked like they were on their way to an easy victory, but they simply let their foot off the gas and allowed a team that had no business hanging with them back in the game. They need to be better. The injury to Verrett, among other injuries, puts a real dampener on the win and puts some real question marks around the team's depth moving forward.