The 49ers (11-4) host the Detroit Lions (5-10) at 3Com Park for a 1:00 PT kickoff in the home finale. Wayne Fontes is the Lions' head coach. Scott Mitchell is the starter; Barry Sanders is the back. Herman Moore and Brett Perriman are the receivers.
The 49ers come off the 25-15 road win at Pittsburgh. Steve Young is the starter; Derek Loville is the listed lead back. The wild-card weekend opponent will be determined Sunday after kickoff.[1][2]
Wayne Fontes' Lions are 5-10 with Barry Sanders averaging 5.2 yards per carry across the start. The Sunday at 3Com is the kind of home finale where the schedule offers the franchise a clean closing-week home game before the wild-card weekend. The 49ers' Sunday at 3Com is the home finale and the kind of December game where the staff can rest starters in the second half. The wild-card opponent will be determined Sunday after kickoff.
Week 17 closes the season. The Packers, Cowboys, Panthers and 49ers hold the NFC's playoff seeds with Detroit chasing the wild card. The Patriots, Broncos, Steelers and Jaguars hold the AFC's. The Sunday-night game is St. Louis at San Diego. The 49ers' Sunday at 3Com is the home finale. The wild-card weekend bracket sets after Sunday's closing slate. Around the conference the regular-season closer has six matchups with playoff seeding still in play.
Through fifteen games the 49ers sit at 11-4 with a plus 131 point differential. Young is on pace for 3,200 passing yards. Bryant Young has 17 sacks. The Lions are 5-10 with Mitchell averaging 240 passing per game and Sanders 5.2 a carry. Vegas opens the 49ers as 8-point home favorites. A figure to follow: Bryant Young's chase of 18 sacks, sitting at 17 across 15 games.
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 10-5 | L1 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 8-7 | W4 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 7-8 | W2 |
| Houston Oilers | 7-8 | L2 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 4-11 | L2 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| New England Patriots | 10-5 | L1 |
| Buffalo Bills | 9-6 | L3 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 9-6 | W3 |
| Miami Dolphins | 7-8 | W1 |
| New York Jets | 1-14 | L6 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Denver Broncos | 13-2 | W1 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 9-6 | L2 |
| Oakland Raiders | 7-8 | L1 |
| San Diego Chargers | 7-8 | L3 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 6-9 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Carolina Panthers | 11-4 | W6 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 11-4 | W1 |
| St. Louis Rams | 5-10 | W1 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 3-12 | L1 |
| New Orleans Saints | 3-12 | W1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Green Bay Packers | 12-3 | W4 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 9-6 | W3 |
| Chicago Bears | 7-8 | W2 |
| Detroit Lions | 5-10 | L4 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5-10 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Dallas Cowboys | 10-5 | W3 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 9-6 | W1 |
| Washington Redskins | 8-7 | L4 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 7-8 | -- |
| New York Giants | 6-9 | L1 |
(1996) Detroit Lions vs San Francisco 49ers (Week 17) pt. 2
(1996) Detroit Lions vs San Francisco 49ers (Week 17) pt. 4
1996 Lions at 49ers MNF Week 17
(1996) Detroit Lions vs San Francisco 49ers (Week 17) pt. 1
(1996) Detroit Lions vs San Francisco 49ers (Week 17) pt. 3
1996 Chiefs @ Lions
49ers vs Lions 1996 SF24- Det14 #49ersfan #49erfaithful #detroitlions 29
49ers vs Lions 1996 SF24- Det14 #49ersfan #49erfaithful #detroitlions 28
49ers vs Lions 1996 SF24- Det14 #49ersfan #49erfaithful #detroitlions 16
49ers vs Lions 1996 SF24- Det14 #49ersfan #49erfaithful #detroitlions 12Steve Young threw for 96 yards and two touchdowns, Derek Loville ran for 66 on 14 carries with a 32-yard touchdown reception and the 49ers beat the Detroit Lions 24-14 at 3Com Park in the regular-season finale. Barry Sanders ran for 175 on 28 carries with a touchdown. The 49ers finished 12-4, the wild-card seed in the NFC.[1][2]
Barry Sanders ran for one hundred and seventy-five yards on twenty-eight carries at 3Com Park and the 49ers still won 24-14 in the home finale. The future Hall of Famer's single-game line is the highest by an opposing back against the 49ers' defense across the calendar.
Steve Young threw for 96 yards on 11-of-14 with two touchdowns. Loville caught a 32-yard touchdown out of the backfield. The defensive front produced one sack of Scott Mitchell. The Lions' offense, despite Sanders' rushing total, produced 14 points across the full sixty minutes.
The 49ers finish the regular season 12-4 with the wild-card seed in the conference playoff bracket. The wild-card opponent is the Philadelphia Eagles at home next Sunday. The wire copy is going to spend the column on the wild-card matchup. The film room is going to spend the week on the Eagles' film.
49ers 24, Lions 14. Margin: plus 10. Final record: 12-4.
A 24-14 home win over the Lions. The 49ers finish 12-4, the wild-card seed in the NFC.
How it unfolded
Young opened with a touchdown drive ending in the Loville 32-yard touchdown reception. The Lions answered with a Sanders short rushing touchdown to tie at 7. The second quarter produced two more 49ers scores: a Wade Richey field goal and a Young touchdown to Brent Jones to push the lead to 17-7. A Lions field goal made it 17-10 at the half. The third quarter saw a Loville short rushing touchdown to make it 24-10. The Lions added a fourth-quarter Herman Moore touchdown to make the final 24-14.
The turning point
The first-quarter Loville touchdown reception. With the 49ers driving from their own 35 and the offense facing third-and-eight at the Lions' 32, Young found Loville on a wheel route out of the backfield. The 7-0 cushion put the home team in script-the-clock posture from the first quarter forward.
By the numbers
Young 11-of-14 for 96 with two touchdowns; the rest of the snap rotation went to Stenstrom and Druckenmiller in the second half. Loville 66 rushing on 14 carries plus 32 receiving on 4 catches with a touchdown. Rice 5 catches for 49. Defensively the front produced one sack of Mitchell; Sanders' 175 rushing was the most the unit had surrendered all year.
Personnel watch
| Player | C/A | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO | |||||
| Steve Young #8 | 11/14 | 96 | 2 | 0 | |
| Elvis Grbac | 6/9 | 56 | 0 | 0 | |
| DET | |||||
| Scott Mitchell | 15/27 | 110 | 1 | 0 | |
| Player | Att | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO | ||||
| Derek Loville | 14 | 66 | 0 | 16 |
| Steve Young #8 | 3 | 26 | 0 | 14 |
| Dexter Carter | 4 | 17 | 0 | 6 |
| Anthony Lynn | 2 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| Tommy Vardell | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Elvis Grbac | 5 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| DET | ||||
| Barry Sanders | 28 | 175 | 1 | 54 |
| Scott Mitchell | 4 | 11 | 0 | 9 |
| Ron Rivers | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Player | Rec | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO | ||||
| Jerry Rice #80 | 5 | 49 | 0 | 17 |
| Derek Loville | 4 | 32 | 1 | 23 |
| Brent Jones #84 | 2 | 28 | 0 | 15 |
| Iheanyi Uwaezuoke | 1 | 16 | 0 | 16 |
| Tommy Vardell | 1 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| Mike Caldwell | 2 | 9 | 0 | 8 |
| Terrell Owens | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Ted Popson | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| DET | ||||
| Herman Moore | 8 | 59 | 1 | 23 |
| Brett Perriman | 4 | 31 | 0 | 11 |
| Johnnie Morton | 2 | 16 | 0 | 12 |
| Barry Sanders | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
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Find the thread Start the threadCanonical title: [Rewatch Party] 1996 W17 - 49ers vs Detroit Lions - Game Thread