There shouldn’t have been much concern for the San Francisco 49ers after a 2-3 start to the season. They were clearly still one of the best teams in football, despite some defeats.
Things aren’t quite perfect yet for the 49ers, and injuries have a lot to do with that. But don’t think San Francisco has lost much.
The 49ers had a dominant first half against the Seattle Seahawks, letting the Seahawks back into the game for a while in the second half and ultimately slamming the door shut, once again beating their NFC West rival. George Kittle scored twice, Deebo Samuel Sr. scored a long touchdown and the defense got a huge interception in the fourth quarter to lead the 36-24 win. The 49ers are back to .500 after the win.
In an ideal world, San Francisco wouldn’t have let Seattle back into the game; it would still have an undefeated record and be the talk of the NFL. This start was not ideal. But the 49ers are still pretty good.
49ers take an early lead
One of the reasons the Seahawks made the somewhat surprising decision to end the Pete Carroll era was because they were run over by the 49ers in recent seasons. There was more to the decision than that, but the fact that they were completely uncompetitive against their NFC West rival hung over the franchise. They lost five straight games, including playoffs, to the 49ers the last two seasons and none of them were competitive.
New Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald had many of the same problems Thursday night.
The game started well for the Seahawks. They drove deep into 49ers territory. But then Geno Smith missed badly on a throw that was picked off by safety Malik Mustapha. That was the first sign of distress.
The 49ers were backed at their own 3-yard line after that interception, but they drove 90 yards. The 49ers settled for a field goal at the end of the drive – execution in the red zone may have been the only thing San Francisco didn’t do well in the first half on Thursday – but the drive was all too familiar. The 49ers pushed the Seahawks around, as usual.
The first half and the beginning of the second half went like this. Kittle’s first touchdown gave the 49ers a 23-3 lead early in the third quarter. But this 49ers team, which has already taken a fourth-quarter lead twice this season due to losses, needed to make things interesting again.
Seahawks are back at it
The 49ers offense consisted of moving the ball with ease, except in the red zone. The defense went all over the field and hit everything in blue very hard. It was San Francisco’s special teams that let the Seahawks back into the game.
After the 49ers took what looked like an insurmountable 23-3 lead, Laviska Shenault Jr. a kickoff 97 yards for a Seattle touchdown. It was the second kickoff return for a touchdown in the NFL this season. Then Kenneth Walker III scored and the Seahawks trailed 23-17 before the third quarter was over. 49ers running back Jordan Mason suffered a shoulder injury in the first half and didn’t play until the first play of the second half, impacting an offense that has lacked Christian McCaffrey all season. San Francisco seemed to be in a bit of trouble.
Then Smith threw an interception that practically determined the outcome. It was miserably undercut by DK Metcalf, Renardo Green picked it out and the 49ers were in position to put the game away.
Kittle scored again and the 49ers led 29-17. The Seahawks got a touchdown back and trailed 29-24 with less than two minutes left. They kicked off with all three timeouts remaining. But Isaac Guerendo, filling in for Mason, who was filling in for McCaffrey, broke off a 76-yard run. Kyle Juszczyk scored with 1:17 left to put the game away.
There were some concerns about the 49ers, and having three losses to start the season isn’t great for their hopes for a No. 1 seed in the NFC. But Thursday night was even more proof that they still own the Seahawks and the NFC West, even if there is still room for improvement.
