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Monday's game between the Detroit Lions and the San Francisco 49ers is largely meaningless in the NFC standings, but don't tell the players that.
Lions defensive back Kerby Joseph and 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings were called for personal fouls during what appeared to be a brawl in the first quarter. The incident began when Jennings blocked a play and continued to do so after the whistle and out of the end zone:
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Kerby Joseph and Jauan Jennings were called for personal fouls after the whistle on this play.#DETvsSF | ABC, ESPN, ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/HwBbWGhdd8
The play occurred on San Francisco's first drive of the game and resulted in a penalty overturned when the home team was trying to score in a goal-to-go situation. San Francisco ended up scoring the first touchdown of the game when Brock Purdy found Ricky Pearsall for six.
It showed that players on both teams still play hard even if there aren't many roles.
San Francisco has already been eliminated from the playoffs at 6-9, while Detroit's playoff fate will be decided in a Week 18 showdown against the Minnesota Vikings.
Although the Lions entered Monday's game with a 13-2 record, they will still be in a winner-take-all situation against Minnesota. The winner of that game will be the NFC North champion and the No. 1 overall seed in the conference, while the loser will be relegated to the 5th seed and will have to travel to the Wild Card round.
Detroit won the first game against the Vikings in Minnesota and this time it will be at home, although it has been dealing with injuries all season and has to deal with a red-hot opponent that will enter the rematch with a nine-game winning streak.
It will be far more important for the Lions to avoid costly penalties against the Vikings than Monday's matchup with the 49ers, although the one involving Joseph and Jennings was at least compensatory.
