The 49ers’ Struggles on Offense and Defense

The San Francisco 49ers’ defense faced a difficult start in their matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. On the first drive, the Seahawks managed to gain nine yards on the second play from scrimmage, followed by 20 yards on the third play. After putting Seattle in a 3rd & 4 situation, Sam Darnold found his fourth read, completing a 9-yard pass to former 49ers tight end Eric Saubert.

Before long, the Seahawks were in the red zone. It didn’t take long for them to reach a goal-to-go situation. Deommodore Lenoir attempted a matchup with Jaxon Smith-Njigba but committed defensive pass interference on the first target. This gave Seattle a 1st-and-goal from the one-yard line. Darnold then took a risk, holding the ball as Tatum Bethune sacked him for a loss of 11 yards. This led to a 3rd-and-goal, which seemed impossible just a few plays earlier. After a stop, Mike Macdonald decided to go for it on 4th & goal from the four-yard line. Upton Stout made a crucial stop in coverage, allowing the defense to avoid giving up any points.

The 49ers’ offense struggled in response. They went three-and-out, while Seattle’s first drive lasted seven minutes and 37 seconds. In contrast, the 49ers’ drive only lasted one minute and 15 seconds.

Garret Wallow was penalized for a facemask on the punt, resulting in Seattle starting their second drive from the 35-yard line. On 3rd & 2, Zach Charbonnet executed a 27-yard touchdown run after cutting back against the grain. Tatum Bethune overran the play, leaving nobody open on the backside.

The 49ers did a good job of picking up a blitz on second down during their next drive, but no one was open, leading to a sack of Brock Purdy. Jauan Jennings failed to make a catch on third down, and Purdy narrowly avoided a sack due to Colton McKivitz being beaten. On 4th & 1, Kyle Shanahan opted to punt, assuming the defense would hold up. However, the defense had given no indication that they could get a stop, as the Seahawks gained 20 and 12 yards on the first three plays.

For the first time in 27 quarters, the 49ers failed to score. The offense had two quick three-and-outs, and neither Christian McCaffrey nor George Kittle caught a pass. Seattle outgained the 49ers 125 to 16 in the first quarter.

On 2nd & 15, Smith-Njigba picked up the first down after Bethune missed an open field tackle. The 49ers’ defense held the Seahawks to a field goal attempt thanks to a penalty and Upton Stout’s excellent play on third down. The voodoo for opposing kickers continued as Seattle missed a 47-yard kick, marking the 10th such miss of the season. The score remained 7-0.

McCaffrey picked up a first down on a reception. Purdy scrambled for ten yards on 3rd and long to make it 4th & 1. A long-developing play with downfield routes failed, and Purdy ended up throwing to Kyle Juszczyk. Smith-Njigba picked up 18 yards on first down, but Dee Winters missed a tackle on 3rd down, allowing Darnold to scramble for a first down. Winters later had his calf stepped on, forcing the linebackers to be Bethune, Kendricks, and Wallow. On 3rd & 6, Green and Ji’Ayir Brown broke up a pass intended for JSN, forcing a field goal. The score became 10-0.

The 49ers tried to involve Kittle in their fourth drive, but Nick Emmanwori sniffed out a screen that lost six yards. Purdy created something out of nothing on 3rd & 11 to find Jennings for a 13-yard gain. Kittle picked up a first down on a play-action pass, and the offense reached Seattle territory by the 2-minute warning. Shanahan elected to kick a field goal on 4th & 3 from the 30-yard line, which felt like the correct decision. Seattle had no timeouts remaining with just over a minute left, and the 49ers would receive the opening kickoff to begin the second half. The defense managed to get a stop, making the halftime score 10-3.

The 49ers were outgained by 127 yards and had only three first downs compared to the Seahawks’ 12. They averaged 3.4 yards per play and were somehow only down by a touchdown. While Purdy appeared tentative in the first half, there were no open receivers. Eventually, even without Williams and Pearsall, you expected the offense to come alive.

The defense played its part after a rough first quarter. Seattle ran for 16 yards on the first six carries of the half. They began the game with 99 rushing yards on 13 carries.

Demarcus Robinson made a nice catch along the sideline on a comeback route for 13 yards, giving the offense a first down. The offense picked up a second first down on the drive, which was almost their total for the first half. However, a sack on second down ended what looked like a promising drive. For the third time, the 49ers had to punt. They punted twice in the previous three weeks combined.

The defense continued to keep the game close. Malik Mustapha and Deommodore Lenoir came up with impressive tackles for losses to prevent Seattle from scoring more points. After six drives, the defense held the Seahawks to one touchdown.

This put pressure back on Purdy, who had been under pressure on 43% of his dropbacks and took a season-high three sacks. On 3rd & 2, Purdy found Robinson for a one-yard gain. It was a three-and-out at an inopportune time.

It was bizarre watching an offense fail to generate any explosive plays. They had zero. To make matters worse, McCaffrey wasn’t on the field on that third down.

Darnold gave the defense an opportunity for their first turnover. He was stepped on, fumbled, and Yetur Gross-Matos couldn’t recover it. That wasn’t the biggest gut punch on the drive. On 3rd & 17, multiple missed tackles allowed Kenneth Walker to pick up 19 yards. Smith-Njigba added another 19, and Charbonnet gained 12. On 3rd & 9, Renardo Green committed defensive pass interference. Seattle settled for a 31-yard field goal, making the score 13-3.

ESPN’s Field Yates asked, “Can the offense wake up?” That was the real story of the game. We were beginning the fourth quarter, and the 49ers had 105 yards of offense without a red zone trip. Three points through three quarters.

The offense finally got the memo. Purdy found Kittle for 20 yards, then rushed for 11. After a pair of 10 and 16-yard passes, the 49ers had their first goal-to-go situation of the night. In what was an improbable outing by the offense, the next play summed up how the night went.

Purdy’s pass to McCaffrey was dropped and ricocheted into a Seattle defender’s hand for an interception. It was quite the turn of events. Instead of being down 13-10 with an opportunity to get the ball back, Seattle kept a two-possession lead and could chew up more clock.

Tatum Bethune went down with an injury, again, on the ensuing drive. Bethune had a groin injury. Without Bethune and Winters, the 49ers’ defense had Kendricks and Wallow at linebacker—two linebackers who weren’t on the roster until around Thanksgiving.

Seattle converted one first down after another. After putting up a good fight, the defense looked like they were all out of bullets. Overall, it looked like a team playing their third game in two weeks.

The Seahawks made things interesting when they missed a field goal, but the 49ers were out of timeouts and needed a miracle. Purdy had only thrown for 127 yards, and 46 of those came on the previous drive. We knew the offense would miss Ricky Pearsall, but not to this level. It was the first time all season the offense looked inept.

Credit Mike Macdonald and the Seahawks for having the 49ers in a headlock all night. Tonight showed Seattle, at least without Trent Williams and Pearsall, was the better team.

We will see the 49ers next week in the Wild Card round. The road to Super Bowl LX will go through Seattle.