There shouldn’t have been much worry about the San Francisco 49ers, who started the season 2-3. Despite some losses, they were clearly one of the best teams in soccer.
The 49ers aren’t quite perfect yet, and injuries have a lot to do with that. But don’t think San Francisco lost much.
The 49ers dominated the first half against the Seattle Seahawks, letting the Seahawks back into the game a bit in the second half, but ultimately shut the door for good and defeated their NFC West rival once again. George Kittle scored two points, Deebo Samuel Sr. scored a long touchdown, and the defense made a big interception in the fourth quarter to lead to a 36-24 victory. After the win, the 49ers returned to a batting average of .500.
In an ideal world, San Francisco would not let Seattle return to the game, and Seattle would still maintain an undefeated record and be the talk of the NFL. This start was not ideal. But the 49ers are still pretty good.
49ers take early lead
One of the reasons the Seahawks made the somewhat surprising decision to end the Pete Carroll era was because they had been overrun by the 49ers over the past few seasons. There was more to the decision than that, but the franchise’s lack of competitiveness against its NFC West rivals has weighed on it. Over the past two seasons, they have lost five straight to the 49ers, including the playoffs, and have not been competitive in any of the games.
New Seahawks head coach Mike McDonald had many of the same issues Thursday night.
The game started well for the Seahawks. They drove deep into 49ers territory. But then Geno Smith’s throw went wide and was picked up by safety Malik Mustafa. That was the first sign of distress.
The 49ers retreated at their own 3-yard line after the interception, but drove 90 yards. The 49ers got a field goal at the end of the drive — red zone execution was probably the only thing San Francisco didn’t do well in the first half Thursday — but the drive looked all too familiar. As usual, the 49ers were pushing the Seahawks.
It was like that both in the first half and in the second half. Kittle’s first touchdown gave the 49ers a 23-3 lead early in the third quarter. But this 49ers team had already lost by two fourth-quarter leads this season and needed to make things interesting again.
Seahawks get back on track
The 49ers offense was moving the ball easily, except in the red zone. The defense was all over the field and attacked everything blue very hard. It was San Francisco’s special teams that got the Seahawks back in the game.
After the 49ers took a seemingly irreversible 23-3 lead, Laviska Chennault Jr. ran a 97-yard kickoff for a touchdown for Seattle. This was the second kickoff return for a touchdown in the NFL this season. Kenneth Walker III then scored and the Seahawks led 23-17 by the end of the third quarter. 49ers running back Jordan Mason injured his shoulder in the first half and played only the first play of the second half, which affected an offense that had been without Christian McCaffrey all season. San Francisco seemed to be in a bit of trouble.
Smith then threw an interception that effectively decided the outcome. The shot was brutally underthrown by DK Metcalf and picked up by Renaldo Green, putting the 49ers in position to end the game.
Kittle scored again and the 49ers led 29-17. The Seahawks returned it for a touchdown and led 29-24 with less than two minutes left. We kicked off with all three timeouts remaining. But Isaac Guerend, who was filling in for McCaffrey and filling in for Mason, broke through with a 76-yard run. Kyle Juszczyk scored with 1:17 left to break the game.
There are some concerns for the 49ers, and losing three games early in the season isn’t great for their hopes of earning the No. 1 seed in the NFC. But Thursday night was more proof that they still own the Seahawks and the NFC West, even if there is still room for improvement.
