Brock Purdy threw for 255 yards and three touchdowns, and the San Francisco 49ers avoided another fourth-quarter collapse by beating the Seattle Seahawks 36-24.
Deebo Samuel does a 76-yard catch-and-run touchdown and finished with three catches for 102 yards for the defending NFC champions (3-3), who moved into a tie with Seattle (3-3) for first place in the NFC West after an uneven start to the season.
George Kittle added five receptions for 58 yards and two scores for the 49ers, who defeated the Seahawks for the sixth straight time. Kyle Juszczyk added a late TD run, and he and Kittle both celebrated their scores by jumping into the stands to embrace their wives, who sat together in the front row.
Matthew Wright, who came to San Francisco earlier this week to replace injured kicker Jake Moody, had a trio of first-half goals from 25, 41 and 35 yards.
Geno Smith passed for 312 yards and a touchdown but was intercepted twice, and the Seahawks lost their third straight game after a 3-0 start under first-year coach Mike Macdonald.
Four days after leading 23-10 at halftime and losing to division rival Arizona, San Francisco fended off a second-half challenge from Seattle, which got a boost from Laviska Shenault Jr.’s kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.
After the 49ers punted, Smith led a 94-yard drive and Kenneth Walker III scored from 1 yard out to get Seattle within 23-17.
But Smith’s second interception, this one by Renardo Green, set up Kittle’s second TD of the game and a 29-17 lead for the Niners.
Smith found Tyler Lockett for a 9-yard scoring pass with 1:44 remaining to cut the score to 29-24. San Francisco responded with Isaac Guerendo’s 76-yard sprint downfield, which led to Juszczyk’s 6-yard TD run.
Seattle’s struggles with the run game continued, with the team finishing with 20 carries for 52 yards – 32 from Walker.
Smith was intercepted on Seattle’s opening drive. The Seahawks were at the San Francisco 25 when rookie safety Malik Mustapha knocked down a pass intended for Lockett.
Jordan Mason broke free for a 38-yard run on San Francisco’s first series, but the drive ended with Wright’s 25-yard field goal.
Samuel hauled in an early second-quarter pass from Purdy and shook off a defender for the 76-yard TD that put the 49ers ahead 10-0. Samuel became the first receiver in NFL history with twenty or more rushing touchdowns and more than twenty receiving scores.
Darrell Luter Jr. forced a fumble on the Seahawks’ return and Tatum Bethune recovered at the Seattle 29. Wright capped that drive with a 41-yard field goal. Wright’s third field goal gave the Niners a 16-0 lead late in the second quarter.
Aided by a pass interference call that put the ball on the 2-yard line, Smith threw three incomplete passes before the Seahawks settled for Jason Myers’ 20-yard field goal as the first half expired.
Purdy found Kittle for a 10-yard touchdown to start the second half, making it 23-3.
Mason, who left the game in the second quarter with a shoulder injury, later returned to finish with 73 yards on nine carries for the 49ers as he continues to fill in for the injured Christian McCaffrey.
Injuries
San Francisco CB Charvarius Ward was a late scratch with a bruised knee. It was the first game Ward has missed since joining the Niners in 2022.
As expected, the Seahawks placed OLB Uchenna Nwosu on injured reserve with a thigh injury. Nwosu missed the first four games of the regular season with a sprained knee. He played just 20 snaps in Sunday’s loss to the New York Giants before suffering another injury. Mustapha left the match in the first half with an ankle injury and did not return.
Next
49ers: Host Kansas City on Oct. 20 in a Super Bowl rematch.
Seahawks: At Atlanta on Oct. 20.
