The Detroit Lions probably didn’t have to play their starters on Monday night, but did, and the blueprint for the rest of their season became clearer.

The Lions can score a lot of points. And they will have to if they want to make it to the first Super Bowl in franchise history.

The Lions’ offense was good and a defense that has been battered by injuries had a hard time slowing the San Francisco 49ers down, though it came up with a couple of key second-half interceptions. The Lions won, 40-34, with the offense doing what it has done all season — racking up plenty of yards, big plays and points. That’s how they’ll have to win, starting with a massive Week 18 showdown against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night.

The Lions’ win helped them in one way, in terms of their clinching scenario. If the Vikings and Lions tie, Detroit will win the division. The Lions got that edge due to Monday night’s win. They’ll go into Week 18 needing a win or tie to win the NFC North and No. 1 seed in the conference. Minnesota will win the division and be the NFC’s top seed if they win in Week 18. The Vikings and Lions both go into the game with 14-2 records. That game next week will feature the most combined wins for any regular-season game in NFL history.

The loser of that matchup will be locked into the No. 5 seed and will be on the road during wild-card weekend.

As for Monday night, head coach Dan Campbell saw the benefit in playing the game as usual. The biggest lesson might have been that the Lions’ defense is going to have to rely on big plays because it’s too injured to hold down many playoff offenses.

The good news for the Lions is maybe their offense is good enough to outscore each team they’ll face the rest of the season.

49ers move the ball easily

The 49ers had one more game in the national spotlight before their season ends, and they were up for it.

San Francisco drove downfield and scored when rookie first-round draft pick Ricky Pearsall caught a pass from Brock Purdy in the end zone for a touchdown. The Lions responded with a touchdown of their own to Jameson Williams, but the 49ers found it just as easy to move downfield on their second drive. Purdy hit fullback Kyle Juszczyk for a TD.

One play into the second quarter, the 49ers had 121 yards and two touchdowns on two possessions. Purdy ended up with 377 yards passing, though he left the game in the final minutes with a concerning right elbow injury, suffered on a sack. Joshua Dobbs came off the bench and immediately led a touchdown drive.

The Lions’ defense isn’t stellar but the offense is elite. Williams got his second touchdown on a fantastic play, as Amon-Ra St. Brown caught a short pass and then lateraled it to Williams at full speed. Williams beat the 49ers’ secondary for a 41-yard score. The Lions have a seemingly endless bag of trick plays.

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The Lions’ offense isn’t much of a question. The defense is the concern. Halfway through the second quarter, each quarterback had a perfect 158.3 passer rating. That’s great for Jared Goff and not so good for the Lions’ defense.

Lions open up a lead

The 49ers were moving the ball in the second half but Lions safety Kerby Joseph made a couple of big plays to turn the game in Detroit’s favor.

Joseph’s first interception led to a touchdown. St. Brown scored on a fourth down to give the Lions a 31-28. Then, in the fourth quarter, with the 49ers driving and trailing 34-28, Joseph picked off Purdy again on a pass over the middle. Jahmyr Gibbs scored a 30-yard touchdown run to put the game away after that.

The Lions’ offense is so good that if Detroit’s defense can win the turnover battle, that might be enough to win. Detroit might not have won without Joseph’s two picks, so give the defense credit for coming up with the big plays when it had to.

The Lions’ defense will be challenged to repeat that next week against Sam Darnold and a Vikings offense that has been very good all season, and particularly hot lately. The Vikings have a very good defense but the Lions have moved the ball on everyone this season.

The final game of the 2024 regular season will be a classic with massive stakes. Maybe the only sure thing is we’ll see a lot of points, from both teams.