The Lions knew heading into Monday night's game against the 49ers that they had a bigger matchup waiting for them in Week 18 and head coach Dan Campbell was able to turn his attention to it after his team's 40-34 win in Santa Clara.
The 49ers' season has not played out as hoped, which means that they are looking ahead to better times in 2025 and Monday night's game brought a hopeful performance from rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall.
As the Lions' injury-ravaged defense is just trying to find enough healthy bodies to put on the field, their offense is accomplishing unprecedented feats.
Here's what to know about the series history between Michigan and Alabama, including all-time meetings and record, ahead of Tuesday's ReliaQuest Bowl game:
Lions head coach Dan Campbell knew heading into Monday night's game against the 49ers that it was effectively meaningless to his team's ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl: Win or lose in San Francisco, the No. 1 seed in the NFC will come down to Sunday night against Minnesota.