Brock Purdy completed less than half his passes in the first half of last year’s NFC championship game. Christian McCaffrey averaged 2.9 yards per carry. George Kittle didn’t have a catch.
All three players, though, made big plays in the second half as the San Francisco 49ers rallied from 17 points down to beat the Detroit Lions and advance to the Super Bowl, and while McCaffrey won’t play in Monday’s rematch, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said his unit’s best players will have to “out-will” the 49ers’ stars to win Monday night rematch at Levi’s Stadium.
“If you look at the game from last year, I thought our guys did a really good job early and then some of their guys started to will themselves into making some plays and that’s what we have to really do this game,” Glenn said Friday. “Our top guys have to out-will their top guys, and I’m looking forward to seeing our guys do that.”
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The 49ers have played most of the season without three of their best offensive players, due to injury: McCaffrey, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and left tackle Trent Williams.
At 6-9, they’re one of the most disappointing teams in the NFL.
But they still rank among the top 11 in passing, rushing and total yards, and Glenn said they remain dangerous because of the “prideful players” they still have.
“Like Kittle,” Glenn said. “He is a weapon and when you watch him on tape he looks even faster than he’s been in his years. Man, he’s going up and getting the ball, he’s blocking. They’re getting the ball to him at the point of attack. To me, he’s the best tight end in the game and that’s just who he is.
“Then Deebo (Samuel), man, you watch him last week, he was a man on a mission against the Dolphins. As many times they were getting him the ball in space and as many tackles as he was breaking, so he’s the Deebo of old that we’ve always seen. And then this quarterback, man, he’s a guy that can just — he’s surgical with the way that he operates. So this is going to be a challenge for us, it really is. But I tell you what, our defense is looking forward to this challenge.”
Teddy the talker
The Lions signed Teddy Bridgewater on Thursday as insurance at quarterback in case something happens to Jared Goff, but Glenn said the team’s defense will benefit from practicing against the veteran backup, too.
“Teddy is one of the most vocal noise talkers that you’ll ever have as a quarterback,” Glenn said. “And I’m excited about that, I really am. Because it really brings a value to your defense as far as pissing your defensive guys off, especially when he’s out there throwing the ball around. It was the same thing in New Orleans. He brought that mentality here.”
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Glenn was defensive backs coach with the New Orleans Saints during Bridgewater’s two seasons with the team in 2018-19, and watched the Lions defense go toe-to-toe with Bridgewater every week last year.
He called Bridgewater “one of the best leaders I’ve ever seen.”
“Everybody loves him. Everybody,” Glenn said. “And there’s something to that, to where you’re not starting but guys can look at you as a leader of a team. And you don’t get many guys like that, ’cause it’s usually your play is what some people look at as far as leadership. But man, just the way that he carries himself, just the way that he can talk to everybody on the team from O-line, D-line, linebackers, DBs, running backs, it doesn’t matter. He has a relationship with everybody on this team and that’s a special person.”
Right call
Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said officials were right to flag long snapper Hogan Hatten for a false-start penalty on the play before Jake Bates’ 65-yard field-goal try fell short and to the right just before halftime of last week’s win over the Chicago Bears.
The Lions lined up for a 60-yard kick with 1 second left in the first half, but the penalty pushed Bates’ try back 5 yards.
“Really what happened was we got in our stance so early and Jake hadn’t even approached the ball yet or started his walk off, so we were down there forever,” Fipp said. “So then Hogan was standing up higher than normal and then as he went to get down and really get set, which it looked like we were already set, he lowered his hips to sink down and get ready to snap the ball and they moved and so then it was on us, which was the right call.”
Bates made field goals of 30 and 34 yards against the Bears and is 23-for-26 on the season. All three of his misses have come in the Lions’ past four games, and two of them are from 50-plus yards.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Fipp said of Bates’ long miss against the Bears. “I don’t know if it bothers him or not. You’d have to ask him. But to me, I mean if you’re a kicker, you want a chance to swing at the long ones, really. I’m hoping he gets a chance to swing at one of those things indoors from far back there because I know what he’s got.”
Christian values
Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said he was pleased with how rookie guard Christian Mahogany played in his first career start against the Bears.
“He did a great job,” Johnson said. “He did. We know he’s got an excellent first step. He beats his opponent off the ball and then what showed up is what you saw at Boston College, which is the cleaning of the pocket and playing with a little nasty to him, which we certainly embrace. (Offensive line coach) Hank Fraley likes to think it reminds him of himself. I don’t know about that necessarily, but Christian, I think, showed a glimpse of what a bright future he has.”
Mahogany, who missed the start of the season with mononucleosis, played all 65 snaps at left guard against the Bears. Johnson said he was especially impressed with how Mahogany blocked in the screen game.
“That’s been something that’s taken us a little while, I feel like almost over the last second half of the season here we’ve really caught onto our screen landmarks and trusting those with the back, the receivers, the O-line,” he said. “And to see a guy that missed training camp show up and in his first start be as in tune and detailed as the rest of the group, I thought that was extremely encouraging.”
Lions coach Dan Campbell said Graham Glasgow will return to the starting lineup this week against the 49ers
Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline.” Order your copy here. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
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