Gameday

SAN FRANCISCO – You expected the quarterback to operate with precision and make the big plays that would help establish the NFC’s pecking order this early in the season.

Alex Smith was the quarterback who made the plays - for the San Francisco 49ers.

You expected a wide receiver to come up big in the clutch, to help squeeze the life out of the opponent on a game-clinching drive. Michael Crabtree did that – for the same 49ers.

But if you expected the Lions to pull an upset of a 49ers team that many experts are picking to go to the Super Bowl, Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson were supposed to be the quarterback-receiver combination that would carry them to victory.

That didn’t happen Sunday night at Candlestick Park. There was no question about who was the better team. The 49ers played just enough better on offense, defense and special teams when it counted in a 27-19 victory over the Lions.

The outcome kept the 49ers unbeaten at 2-0 and dropped the Lions to 1-1 and into a four-way tie for first place in the NFC North.

At this early stage of the season, a tie for anything doesn’t mean a lot.
What matters most is that the Lions are carried by their offense and it didn’t carry the load against the 49ers.

Stafford was wild early, and the only touchdown came on a nine-yard pass to Brandon Pettigrew with 1:29 left.

Smith won the battle of quarterbacks – much like he did last year, when the 49ers went to Ford Field and beat the Lions, 25-19, on a late TD pass thrown by Smith on a fourth-down play.

Smith completed 20 of 31 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns. He had no interceptions. It was a workmanlike performance.

Stafford completed 19 of 32 passes for 230 yards with a touchdown and one interception.

For most of the game, it looked like two-thirds of San Francisco’s secondary was covering Calvin Johnson in some fashion in an attempt to make him look mortal. The strategy succeeded.

They had him high-lowed, bracketed, doubled – you name it, they tried it. And it worked, mostly.

Johnson wound up with eight catches for 94 yards, but it was a street fight all night getting the ball to him.

The storyline going into the game was the postgame handshake between the two coaches after last year’s game. Jim Schwartz and Jim Harbaugh got into a scuffle.

For those who like drama, there was no drama in that regard. They shook hands before the game and again after.

It was what happened on the field that mattered, and the 49ers wrote the final storyline by winning.

“It felt as if it was a playoff game,” Schwartz said after the game.

It did, but with one big difference. There was no sudden death. Both teams live to play another day.

For the Lions, it means going to Nashville next week to play the Titans, who are off to a bad start with two losses and an offense that hasn’t gotten on track.

The Lions need to rebound quickly, and they should. In the last two years, they have yet to beat a playoff team. Losing to the 49ers kept that unwanted streak intact.

Center Dominic Raiola was asked about the game having a playoff feel.

“Yeah – on national TV,” he said, referring to the game being televised on NBC. “Kind of yes. That’s one of the best teams in the NFC.

“That’s the kind of game we expected. Every yard earned.”

The defense held up well enough most of the time, but there were some missed tackles and three crucial plays that had to be made late in the game if the Lions were going to win.

The 49ers made them – Smith to Crabtree.

On the 49ers’ final drive that ended in a clinching touchdown, Smith converted on third and long three straight times – all on completions to Michael Crabtree.

It was third and seven, third and 14 and third and nine, and Smith hit on all three.

In a game when the Lions were trying to climb to the top rung in the NFC, the 49ers pulled the ladder out from under them.

In a strange reversal of what should have been expected, Alex Smith was the trigger man on the winning combination.

It was supposed to be Matthew Stafford doing it.