Matt Breida rushed for a career-best 138 yards and Robbie Gould set a franchise record for most consecutive made field goals with a 3-for-3 effort Sunday afternoon, propelling the San Francisco 49ers to a 30-27 victory over the Detroit Lions in Santa Clara, Calif.
Jimmy Garoppolo threw two touchdown passes and remained unbeaten in home games in his 49ers career with a third straight win as San Francisco (1-1) rebounded from an error-filled, 24-16 loss at Minnesota with a turnover-free performance.
Matthew Stafford amassed 347 passing yards and three scores for Detroit (0-2), including a 5-yarder to Marvin Jones Jr. and a 15-yarder to Michael Roberts in the final 8:36 to rally the Lions, down 30-13 at one point, to within three.
But the 49ers, with the help of a critical defensive-holding call on Lions strong safety Quandre Diggs on an apparent interception by Tracy Walker, were able to run out most of the remaining clock after Roberts' score with 3:27 left, holding on to win despite a 427-346 deficit in yards gained.
The Lions, after taking over on their own 16 with no timeouts and 1:08 to go, were able to get only as far as their 39 before turning the ball over on downs.
Breida's big day included a 66-yard touchdown run, the longest of his career, in the third quarter that put the 49ers in front 27-13. The second-year back's previous high for rushing yards in a game had been 74 last December against Jacksonville.
The 49ers finished with 190 rushing yards one week after the Lions had allowed 169 in a 48-17 home loss to the New York Jets.
Gould connected from 45 yards in the first quarter, 42 in the second and 36 in the fourth, running his streak of consecutive makes to 29. Along the way, he surpassed Phil Dawson's previous franchise record of 27 straight.
Garoppolo's touchdown passes covered 4 yards to Kendrick Bourne in the second quarter and 11 yards to Garrett Celek in the third.
The Lions led just once, that coming when Stafford connected on his first touchdown pass, a 30-yarder to Kenny Golladay for a 7-3 advantage late in the first period.
Matt Prater rounded out the Detroit scoring with a 27-yard field goal in the second quarter and a 43-yarder in the third.
The Lions' Golden Tate was the game's leading receiver, hauling in seven Stafford passes for 109 yards.
Running back LeGarrette Blount was ejected early in the fourth quarter after coming off the sideline to shove 49ers linebacker Elijah Lee, who had hit Stafford near the sideline but did not draw a flag for the collision.
--Field Level Media
Detroit | San Francisco | |
Kerryon Johnson | Player | Matt Breida |
8 | Attempts | 11 |
43 | Yards | 138 |
5.4 | Avg Yards | 12.6 |
0 | Touchdowns | 1 |
21 | Long | 66 |
Detroit | San Francisco | |
Golden Tate | Player | Pierre Garcon |
7 | Receptions | 4 |
109 | Yards | 57 |
15.6 | Avg Yards | 14.2 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
67 | Long | 20 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Detroit | 427 | 98 | 329 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6.0 | 0 |
San Francisco | 346 | 190 | 156 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2.0 | 1 |