San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks didn’t hold back on his unit’s ‘embarrassing’ performance against the Detroit Lions. Wilks sounded the alarm, hoping his team could rebound on the biggest stage of the NFL season: the Super Bowl.
Speaking with the media, leading up to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas (Feb. 11), Wilks sounded revolted by his team’s effort against Dan Campbell’s Lions. “Collectively, as a team, I can tell you it’s unacceptable, and we talked about that,” Wilks shared. Steve Wilks put his team on notice — understanding that the defense assignment in a week will be to stop Patrick Mahomes. “It wasn’t to our standard. Those guys understand and know that. Quite honestly, it was embarrassing,” Wilks added.
San Francisco’s defense took sucker punches in the first half, almost keeping the Niners down for the count. Detroit took a 24-7 lead at halftime — the Lions scored on several chunk-yardage plays in the first half, including a 42-yard run by Lions WR Jameson Williams.
Thankfully, San Fran’s offense raged back and the defense snapped out of their funk, leading to 27 unanswered points scored by the 49ers in the second half. While Niners quarterback Brock Purdy continues to draw criticism in and around the league, Mr. Irrelevant had to put on a near-perfect second half to avoid further burying the Niners. Purdy threw an interception before halftime. After the break, Purdy completed 13-of-16 for 174 yards and a touchdown.
San Francisco escaped with a 34-31 win, taking the NFC Championship crown over this year’s Cinderella squad. Bracing for the supernatural forces that are Mahomes and Swiftie Nation, the Niners defense will need to come in buttoned-up next Sunday, or get their hearts broken.
