MNF: Lions vs Niners

Someone help me out here because Troy and Joe have said multiple times the lions played this game hard even though they had nothing to lose and their big game was next week. Vikes are 14-2 and a loss would've put the lions at 13-3. The lions needed this game right to make next week important??
If Lions win next week, Lions win tiebreaker over Vikes. If Lions had lost tonight.