THE SADLY STORY BETWEEN DETROIT LIONS AND SAN FRANCISCO 49ers…

THE SADLY STORY BETWEEN DETROIT LIONS AND SAN FRANCISCO 49ers…

The Detroit Lions appeared to be headed for their first-ever Super Bowl trip, but they lost to the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 in the NFC championship game, capping their 2023 campaign. The Lions were outscored 27-7 in the second half.

Instead, the 49ers will be playing in their eighth Super Bowl as a club, hoping to capture their sixth Lombardi Trophy. It would have been the Lions’ first trip to the Super Bowl and their first NFL championship game since 1957. In the AFC title game, the Chiefs defeated the Ravens 17-10. San Francisco will play the Chiefs in the Super Bowl on February 11 in Las Vegas.

Check out our game recap of live updates from throughout the game in Santa Clara below.

There was a tiny, tiny chance at a comeback if the Lions could have recovered an onside kick after Jameson Williams scored a 3-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal to cut the lead to a field goal with just under a minute to play. The Lions went 75 yards on 11 plays, and took two minutes off the clock. The Lions picked up big chunk gains on completions to Sam LaPorta, Josh Reynolds and Amon-Ra St. Brown.

But the Niners recovered the attempt and ran the clock down to 0:00 to move onto the Super Bowl in arguably the Lions’ most crushing loss ever.

The 49ers turned another botched fourth down into a touchdown on the next play, this time on a 3-yard run by backup running back Elijah Mitchell that went straight up the middle of the Lions’ defense, making the season for the Lions look increasingly likely to end. During the drive, Christian McCaffrey gained 46 yards from five touches, while Brock Purdy added 21 more yards on a third-down scramble.

In the most important game of the season, Dan Campbell and the Lions’ gambles are not paying off. Campbell chose to hold the offense on the field for a fourth-and-3 from the San Francisco 30-yard line rather than try a 47-yard field goal. Immediately put under pressure, Jared Goff had to roll to his right and pass the ball to no one on the downfield, resulting in a turnover on downs. Jameson Williams and David Montgomery ran consecutive chunk plays to cross midfield to start the drive.