In a game that had no bearing on Detroit’s postseason position played six days before one that will, the Lions still were all in to win and leaned on former Alabama standouts Jahmyr Gibbs and Jameson Williams to take a 40-34 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night.

Gibbs produced 163 yards from scrimmage and scored one touchdown, and Williams scored two touchdowns.

The victory in a rematch of last season’s NFC Championship Game lifted the Lions’ record to 14-2, the same as the Minnesota Vikings’ for the best in the NFC.

But even if Detroit had lost to San Francisco, the Lions’ game against the Vikings at 7:20 p.m. CST Sunday at Ford Field in Detroit still would have been for the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. The winner of Sunday night’s NFC North game, the final one of the NFL’s 2024 regular season, will earn the first-round bye that goes to the top-seeded team while the loser will enter the postseason as a wild-card qualifier and play on the road in the first round despite having the second-best record in the conference.

A wide receiver, Williams scored the Lions’ first points on a 3-yard run on an end-around with 3:42 left in the first quarter and completed a 42-yard touchdown pass play as Detroit cut the 49ers’ lead to 14-13 with 10:09 left in the first half. On that play, quarterback Jared Goff completed a 1-yard pass to wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who flipped the football to Williams on a hook-and-ladder play that ended 41 yards later in the end zone.

Williams had five receptions for 77 yards. The touchdown reception was the 10th of his career, and the TD run was his second. Williams had a 19-yard touchdown run in a 33-28 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Dec. 3, 2023.

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A running back, Gibbs ran for 117 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries and caught four passes for 46 yards. Gibbs scored his 16th touchdown of the season on a 30-yard run as Detroit took a 40-28 lead with 2:58 to play.

Three other players from Alabama high schools and college got on the field during the Detroit-San Francisco game:

• Terrion Arnold (Alabama) started at cornerback for the Lions. Arnold made six tackles.
• Brian Branch (Alabama) started at safety for the Lions. Branch made seven tackles and recorded one sack. Branch sacked Brock Purdy with 1:36 left to play, and the San Francisco quarterback left the game with an injury after passing for a career-high 377 yards.

• Lions cornerback Carlton Davis (Auburn) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
• Forty-Niners cornerback Darrell Luter Jr. (South Alabama) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
• Lions defensive tackle Brodric Martin (Northridge, North Alabama) was designated as a game-day inactive.
• Za’Darius Smith (Greenville) started at defensive end for the Lions. Smith registered one quarterback hit.

After playing in the Super Bowl last season, San Francisco (6-10) will complete its 2024 season against the Arizona Cardinals at 3:25 p.m. Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.