National Football League

49ers' Tashaun Gipson Sr. says win over Lions was 'not our brand of football'

Published Feb. 7, 2024 4:13 p.m. ET

Tashaun Gipson Sr. and the San Francisco 49ers pulled off a 17-point, second-half comeback to beat the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship Game, but the veteran safety is paying attention to what flaws the tape might reveal about their defense.

"Obviously, everybody on that film can at some point on one of those plays point themselves out and said, 'Man, I could have played with better effort on that.' ... That film was hard," Gipson said about San Francisco's defensive performance against Detroit to ESPN Tuesday. "You had to see that, and you had to hear some choice words, because that's not our brand of football.

"We are a lot better football team than that. It's nothing I'm worried about moving forward."

The 49ers surrendered 442 total yards — including 182 rushing yards on 6.3 yards per carry — and 31 points to the Lions. Gipson finished the game with six combined tackles, one forced fumble and one pass defended.

The week prior against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC divisional round, San Francisco surrendered 330 total yards, including 136 rushing yards on 4.9 yards per carry.

San Francisco's defense surrendered just 214.2 passing yards (14th in the NFL), 89.7 rushing yards (third), 303.9 total yards (eighth) and 17.5 points (third) per game in the regular season. Gibson, who started 16 games, finished the regular season with 60 combined tackles and one interception.

Gipson, 33 and a one-time Pro Bowler, is in his second season with the 49ers. He spent the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Cleveland Browns (2012-15) and the ensuing three seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2016-18), followed by stints with the Houston Texans (2019) and Chicago Bears (2020-21).