San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) walks off the field after being defeated by the Seattle Seahawks at Levis Stadium in Santa Clara on Sun Nov 17, 2024 (AP News photo)
By Barbara Mason
The San Francisco 49ers (5-5) and the Seattle Seahawks (5-5) met in a highly competitive contest Sunday afternoon. The 49ers led at the half 7-6 but the second half revealed a determined Geno Smith scored a touchdown in the final seconds of the game to take the lead and the eventual win 20-17.
Game recap: Other than a San Francisco touchdown with ten seconds left on the clock in the opening quarter there was not a lot of action offensively. Brock Purdy rushed for a ten yard touchdown taking back the lead that the Seahawks had established mid-way through the first quarter.
Seattle kicker Jason Myers had a 52 yard field goal, the first team to score in the game. San Francisco would end the quarter with the Purdy touchdown and going into the second quarter the 49ers led by the score of 7-3.
The only score in the second quarter was a Seattle field goal, a 57 yard Myers kick. The score at the half was 7-6 with San Francisco leading. The first half was a highly competitive one between two evenly matched teams.
There had been only two field goals and one touchdown in the first thirty minutes of play and both teams would be looking for a whole lot more offense in the second half; that one huge play that will break this game open.
San Francisco needed to figure out more ways to score more points in the second half of this low-scoring game, and keep Seattle guessing. The Seahawks had not found the end zone in the first half something that they needed to do if they had any chance of coming out with a win in this game.
San Francisco would need to get their offensive groove going in the second half; they especially wanted to see the dangerous running back Christian McCaffrey get cooking. The San Francisco defense gave their offense an amazing opportunity in the opening minutes of the third quarter intercepting the ball near the Seattle 27 yard line.
The 49ers were poised to extend their lead. San Francisco, was having their share of penalties some of them ill-timed infractions. They had back to back penalties after the interception and were unable to find the end zone. They had to settle for a 33 yard Jake Moody field goal extending their lead 10-6.
The Seahawks got a great drive going following the San Francisco field goal with quarterback Geno Smith mixing it up with some plays through the air as well as on the ground. Seattle drove down into the red zone and had a first and goal inside the San Francisco five yard line.
The Seahawks Kenneth Walker punched the ball into the end zone, the extra point was good and the Seahawks had taken back the lead 13-10. After throwing the interception earlier, Smith was undeterred in this second drive of the third quarter.
San Francisco fought back driving into Seattle territory led by McCaffrey and Purdy really got the passing game going. Inside the red zone, San Francisco committed their eighth penalty but came right back taking up residence on the Seahawk five yard line. The possession culminated in a Purdy to Jauan Jennings three yard pass, the touchdown, with Jennings waltzing into the end zone through a huge gap taking a 17-13 lead with 9:33 left in the game.
The Seahawks put together a great drive having a fourth and one on the San Francisco 37 yard line but could not convert and San Francisco took over on downs with under four minutes left on the clock.
The 49ers defense had really stepped up when it was needed most. San Francisco needed a couple of first downs and some solid clock management to finish off Seattle. The 49ers stalled on the Seattle 42 yard line forcing a punt and the Seahawks had renewed life.
Seattle put together a stunning drive with Smith running the ball into the end zone with 12 seconds left in the game taking a 20-17 lead. The Seahawks had beaten the 49ers for the first time in three years.
Both quarterbacks had done a great job spreading the ball out throughout this game This was a hotly contested game from start to finish with San Francisco coming up just short. Purdy finished the game with 21 of 28 passes, 159 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He was sacked twice. McCaffrey rushed for 79 yards and 27 receiving yards. Jennings had 91 receiving yards in the loss.
Seattle was more explosive in the second half of the game than San Francisco. Smith had a very productive game finishing with 25 of 32 passes for 221 yards, and one interception. He also rushed for 29 yards, some of those yards coming in the final seconds of the game. Kenneth Walker III rushed for 54 yards and Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 110 receiving yards. The payback that the Seahawks had been looking for became a reality.
Game notes: Sunday afternoon the 49ers were looking for their third consecutive win as they took on the Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium. McCaffrey continues to work back into the system after his long layoff. After a slow start this season, San Francisco had turned things around and but just couldn’t get past the Seahawks Sunday even though they had some vastly improved offense and defense.
Seattle came into this game following a bye in week ten and a loss to the Los Angeles Rams 26-20 in week nine. Seattle opened the season with a bang winning three games in a row over the Broncos , the Patriots and the Dolphins but stalled out losing to the Lions, the Giants and a loss to the 49ers on a Thursday Night Football matchup back on October 10th.
Seattle got a little payback in this game. San Francisco had beat the Cowboys 30-24 in week 8, followed by a bye in week nine and then a 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Niners couldn’t dominate Seattle like they did earlier this season in this game. San Francisco had beaten the Seahawks for the past three years but that string ended Sunday.
The 49ers will take on the Green Bay Packers in a week 12 matchup. Kickoff for that game is slated for 1:25 PM.
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