49ers take first step of long, possible journey
Moody connected on a field goal from 43 yards out as the Niners cut Detroit's lead to 24-10 and gave San Francisco a little hope with 26 minutes left in regulation.
The Niners will need to find a way to stop Detroit's punishing running game to get any closer.
The Niners have come out of the half strong, and a wild throw by a scrambling Purdy is snagged with one hand by Jauan Jennings for a crucial first down.
The NFC championship game broadcast has cut back to Ford Field in Detroit a few times to highlight a crowd celebrating the Lions' 24-7 lead at halftime from 2,500 miles away.
Tickets to the watch party sold out in less than 12 hours, according to The Detroit News, and things have gone well so far for the more than 20,000 fans inside the stadium.
All the numbers favor Detroit
The Lions are thoroughly dominating the No. 1-seeded 49ers.
They have more first downs (18-8), yards (280-131) and total plays (43-28).
Detroit has been particularly dominant on the ground, rolling up 148 rushing yards on 21 carries for a 7.0 yard-per-carry average.
What's a three-score lead?
In football, we'll often say a team leads by a certain number of scores. That's a measure of how many times a team would need to get the ball and score points to overcome a particular deficit.
A three-score lead would mean a team is up by more points than can be scored in two posessions: two touchdowns with two two-point conversions (16 total points). Thus it would require that team to score three times to take the lead.
The Lions, up 17, qualify for a three-score lead.
San Francisco heads back to its locker room down 24-7, having reached the end zone only once via a 2-yard Christian McCaffrey run.
The lone score for the league's highest-scoring offense by touchdowns scored in the regular season (tied with Miami) is unusual but not unprecedented. The No. 1-seeded 49ers scored only seven against the Packers in their 24-21 divisional round win last week.
Lions take commanding lead
Michael Badgley connected from 21 yards out, pushing Detroit's lead to 24-7 over the stunned 49ers late in the first half.
The key play was a 23-yard pass from Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown on third-and-18 from San Francisco's 42.
The Niners had used two timeouts before that big play in hopes of getting the ball back.
Detroit didn't play it conservative on third-and-18 from San Francisco's 42 and is now headed to a three-score lead at halftime.
Two third-and-long conversions there. Wow.
A big two minutes to end the half here. With the Lions just over midfield, another three points would pad their lead and make it a three-score game.
Huge conversion of a third and 18 by the Lions there to keep the drive going.
Down 14 points in this explosive first half, the 49ers are already facing a deficit they haven't been able to overcome in quite some time. The last time San Francisco was able to make its way back from a 14-point deficit was more than two years ago, a 17-point comeback agains the Los Angeles Rams in January 2022.