Oh, what a difference (almost) a year can make.

After officially being eliminated from the playoffs earlier this month and guaranteed a losing record at 6-9, the 49ers will take on the Lions once more in Week 17, with first place in the NFC North and the NFC period on the line for Dan Campbell’s team. Asked about the potential to play spoiler against a Lions team that certainly wants to prove their dominance with a big win over the 49ers, Purdy noted that his team understands Detroit’s mindset and hopes to dish them another loss, this time on Monday Night Football.

“Obviously last year, NFC Championship Game, there’s a lot of emotions that go into that, especially when we were able to go the Super Bowl from it and their season was ended. So we obviously know how that feels, for us the year before with Philadelphia and that kind of thing. It’s definitely a thing, and we have to be ready for it,” Brock Purdy told reporters.

“And more than anything, it’s how can we come in and ready to battle these guys for four quarters and do what we can to obviously win and walk out and create some momentum for us, our organization moving forward and play for each other. We’ve got nothing but real strong love in this locker room. So to go out there and play for each other and do what it takes to win at Levi’s, at home, that’s everything for us. So, that’s our mindset going into it. We know that they’re going to come in with a heavy heart from last year and ready to go for this game, but that’s what makes this league exciting. Monday Night Football, and it’ll be fun.”

On paper, this is not a game most fans would bet on the 49ers to win, as the Lions are an elite team who can impact the game on multiple different levels, while the 49ers have consistently performed under the sum of their parts for one reason or another in 2024. Still, as Purdy and San Francisco has proven time and time again in 2024, they are most dangerous when they are counted out, as they can still drop 30 out of the blue, as teams like the Seattle Seahawks, Dallas Cowboys, and Chicago Bears all learned firsthand in 2024. Are the Lions the best team the 49ers have or will face in 2024? Yes… unless you count the Super Bowl, when the 49ers lost a shootout to the Kansas City Chiefs after beating the very same team a few weeks earlier.