Maiocco’s observations: Purdy, Pearsall shine in 49ers’ loss to Lions

Maiocco’s observations: Purdy, Pearsall shine in 49ers’ loss to Lions originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SANTA CLARA — Unlike the last time these teams met, there essentially was nothing at stake Monday night at Levi’s Stadium.

But the 49ers and Detroit Lions put on a show worthy of, well, an NFC Championship Game.

Brock Purdy, who made all the plays for the 49ers in the postseason matchup, threw two costly interceptions in the second half that overshadowed a career-high 377 passing yards.

The Lions took home a 40-34 victory and now can turn their full attention to the more important matters in front of them.

The game did not have much in common with the epic playoff matchup of last season, when the 49ers rallied from a 17-point deficit to defeat the Lions and advance to the Super Bowl.

Monday’s game meant little to the Lions. Their playoff seeding will come down to their Week 18 Sunday night matchup against the Minnesota Vikings for first place in the NFC North and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

It meant even less for the 49ers, who were officially eliminated from playoff contention before taking the field for their Week 16 game at the Miami Dolphins.

Here are the 49ers’ top takeaways from Monday’s game:

Offense starts clicking

Even behind a makeshift offensive line, the 49ers’ offense had one of its best halves of the season.

Left guard Nick Zakelj made his first NFL start, and recently signed left tackle Charlie Heck made his first start with the 49ers.

The 49ers’ offense started strong with Brock Purdy distributing the ball to Deebo Samuel, Ricky Pearsall and George Kittle.

Purdy had the highest attainable passer rating (158.3) through the first half of action, as he completed 14 of 16 pass attempts for 200 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.

Pearsall caught a 3-yard touchdown pass against the coverage of Lions safety Brian Branch to cap the 49ers’ first drive.

Pearsall, the 49ers’ first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, registered a career-high eight catches for 141 yards.

Purdy hit fullback Kyle Juszczyk on a 9-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter and added a 9-yard touchdown run on a scramble in the first half. It was Purdy’s team-leading fifth rushing touchdown of the season.

Purdy was having a big game until Lions safety Kerby Joseph picked him off twice in the second half. Joseph now leads the NFL with nine interceptions on the season.

Overall, Purdy completed 27 of 35 passes for 377 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions. He finished with a 116.0 pass rating but left the game in the fourth quarter with a right elbow injury.

After the game, coach Kyle Shanahan said Purdy is dealing with some “nerve stuff” and will undergo testing Tuesday.

Kittle joins rare company

Tight end George Kittle is the only one of the 49ers’ star players who has played at his usual elite level from beginning to end this season.

On Monday, he caught two passes in the first quarter, totaling 38 yards.

In doing so, Kittle went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season.

It’s the fourth time in Kittle’s career he has achieved 1,000 yards in a single season, which places him in some elite company,

He became one of only five tight ends in NFL history to accomplish that feat, joining Travis Kelce (seven times), Tony Gonzalez, Rob Gronkowski and Jason Witten (four, apiece).

Kittle finished the game with eight receptions for 112 yards.

Kittle’s big season sets up a potentially interesting offseason, as his representation likely will seek a contract extension and more guaranteed money with his deal set to expire following the 2025 season.

Moody’s blues continue

After an up-and-down rookie year, Jake Moody has experienced a great deal of difficulty kicking the football through the uprights this season.

Moody’s issues continued on Monday night. He missed a 51-yard attempt, pushing it wide right after the 49ers drove 59 yards in 1 minute, 11 seconds to set up the field-goal try at the end of the first half.

Moody then hooked a 58-yard attempt to the left early in the fourth quarter and missed an extra-point try after the 49ers scored a touchdown in the final minute.

Coach Kyle Shanahan defended Moody last week, pointing out that most of Moody’s accuracy issues have come after he returned from a high-ankle sprain.

Moody was 13 of 14 on field-goal attempts this season before sustaining the injury to his kicking leg in the 49ers’ Oct. 6 game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Moody missed three games and returned to action on Nov. 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In the past seven games, Moody has made just 10 of 18 field-goal attempts.

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