"The most surprising part of tight end Delanie Walker's go-ahead fourth-quarter touchdown catch against the Lions on Sunday?

The ball wasn't thrown in Michael Crabtree's direction.

Crabtree, the 49ers' third-year wide receiver, was overwhelmingly the preferred target of quarterback Alex Smith against Detroit. Crabtree had a career-high 15 targets, matched a career-high with nine catches and had 77 yards, matching the fourth-highest total of his 32-game career.

No other Niner had more than five targets, two catches or 24 yards against the Lions.

"It reminded me of the old days," Crabtree said, referring to his two-year career at Texas Tech, during which he averaged 115.5 catches per season. "It felt good, man. I had fun."

Niners coach Jim Harbaugh termed Crabtree's performance "game ball-worthy." And it offered further evidence that Crabtree has made significant strides after foot surgery in July forced him to miss training camp, play just 18 snaps in the season opener and miss a 27-24 Week 2 overtime loss to the Cowboys.

Crabtree, who remains listed as "limited" on the team's practice report because of the foot injury, indicated he's still experiencing pain. But it disappears on game days.

"To tell you the truth, I'll be so into the game, I don't even feel my foot," Crabtree said. "It's kind of like the adrenaline rushing in and the pain is just in the back of your mind.""