Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Detroit Lions 34-31 in January to earn their largest victory of the season and advance to the Super Bowl.
What a difference a year can make, almost.
The 49ers will play the Lions again in Week 17, with first place in the NFC North and the NFC period at stake for Dan Campbell’s squad after they were officially ruled out of the playoffs earlier this month and assured of a losing record at 6-9. In response to a question concerning the possibility of playing spoiler against a Lions team that undoubtedly wants to demonstrate their superiority by defeating the 49ers, Purdy stated that his squad is aware of Detroit’s mentality and intends to deal them another defeat, this time on Monday Night Football.
“There are obviously a lot of emotions involved in the NFC Championship Game from last year, particularly when we were fortunate to advance to the Super Bowl and their season came to an end. Therefore, it goes without saying that we understand how that feels, having experienced Philadelphia and similar situations the previous year. Brock Purdy said reporters, “It’s undoubtedly a thing, and we have to be prepared for it.”
More than anything else, it’s about how we can show up prepared to play these guys for four quarters, do everything in our power to win, and then leave and build some momentum for ourselves and our organisation going forward. This locker room is filled with nothing but genuine, intense love. For us, it means everything to go out there, play for each other, and put in the effort necessary to win at Levi’s or at home.
That’s how we’re thinking about it. We are aware that they will enter the game with a heavy heart from the previous season, but it is part of the excitement that this league offers. Football on Monday night will be entertaining.
However, as Purdy and San Francisco have repeatedly shown in 2024, they are most dangerous when they are counted out, as teams like the Seattle Seahawks, Dallas Cowboys, and Chicago Bears all learnt firsthand in 2024. On paper, this is not a game that most fans would bet on the 49ers to win because the Lions are an elite team that can impact the game on multiple levels, and the 49ers have consistently performed below the sum of their parts for one reason or another.
Are the 49ers’ opponents in 2024 going to be the Lions? Yes, unless you include the Super Bowl, in which the 49ers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in a shootout just weeks before losing to them.