This isn’t a welcome birthday present for Purdy, who turns 25 today. But no one said the NFL was supposed to be easy.
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This isn’t a welcome birthday present for Purdy, who turns 25 today. But no one said the NFL was supposed to be easy.
Here are our predictions for Monday Night Football.
Lombardi: UNDER
The Lions might be beleaguered defensively, but the 49ers’ tattered offensive means that this is unlikely to be smooth sailing for Purdy. The reason the QB’s rating dropped under 100 in Miami last week: an interception that wasn’t his fault. Center Jake Brendel failed to pick up a stunt. Just one more such mistake can drop Purdy below the century mark again.
Kawakami: UNDER
Even with all their injuries on defense, the Lions have kept opponent quarterbacks to just an 81.8 passer rating this season, lowest in the league. And Purdy’s been under this number four of the last five games. This might not exactly be a QB sprint to the finish line.
Lombardi: DEEBO SAMUEL
Let’s not forget that Samuel looked great in training camp and then over the first two weeks of the season before he suffered an oblique injury. He was later hospitalized with pneumonia, which can slow any athlete down for several weeks. So perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that Samuel finally looked like his old self last week.
Kawakami: SAMUEL
Last week’s 117-yard total was only Deebo’s third game this season with more than 100 combined yards rushing and receiving — and first since getting banged up in October. Can he do it again? I think he’ll want to give the home crowd one last sign this season that he’s still got it.
We’re defining big plays as sacks + forced fumbles + fumble recoveries + interceptions.
Lombardi: LEONARD FLOYD
Floyd has been good for about 10 sacks in each of the past four seasons and is at 8.5 sacks right now. Detroit’s Jared Goff and Arizona’s Kyler Murray are the two final quarterbacks on the 49ers’ schedule. The Lions have the better line, but Goff is the much less mobile of the two QBs.
Kawakami: NICK BOSA
Bosa’s stat line in the NFC Championship Game victory over the Lions last January: 2 sacks, 4 QB hits, general mayhem. Lots of good mojo for Bosa in this one, especially if Nick Sorensen keeps him away from All-Pro tackle Penei Sewell.
Lombardi: RICKY PEARSALL
The rookie was clearly a more featured part of the offense as he notched a career-best four catches last week. Unfortunately, those two illegal formation penalties overshadowed that. Pearsall has a real-time shot at growth against a Detroit defense that’s surrendered big yards in recent weeks
Kawakami: ERIC SAUBERT
Well, he had a touchdown last week, right? This is strictly a guess that the sketchy offensive line situation will push the 49ers into going with multiple tight ends more than usual. Which will get the Lions to sell out for the run … and maybe allow Saubert to slip out for a few key catches.
Lombardi: Lions 31, 49ers 27
Detroit is an offensive juggernaut. But the Lions are leaking oil defensively and that is the greatest threat to their upcoming Super Bowl bid. Purdy and the 49ers, with their dilapidated O-line, will expose some of those cracks. But the 49ers don’t have enough in the tank to actually win the game.
Kawakami: Lions 31, 49ers 13
Can this really be about Detroit getting some revenge for the NFC Championship Game loss if the Lions have all the motivation (to move closer to clinching the NFC’s No. 1 seed) and the 49ers have nothing to look forward to but the beginning of a long off-season? Well, maybe a little bit. This could get ugly swiftly.
David Lombardi can be reached at dlombardi@sfstandard.com
Tim Kawakami can be reached at tkawakami@sfstandard.com