San Francisco 49ers players gathered on the field to eat celebratory turkey after their 31-13 over the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on Thursday NOV 23, 2023. (Kym Fortino-49ers)
by Marko Ukalovic
Seahawk and touchdowns were served on Thanksgiving in the Pacific Northwest.
In front of a national audience, the San Francisco 49ers were in a festival mood after dominating the Seattle Seahawks in a 31-13 blowout win on Thanksgiving evening at Lumen Field.
San Francisco opened up a two-game lead on their NFC West division rival with its third win in a row. They jumped up to second in the NFC with the Detroit Lions loss to the Green Bay Packers earlier on in the day. Seattle’s hopes of winning the division were shot down with its second loss in a row and three out of its last four games.
It was a steady serving of Christian McCaffery for the 49ers. The all-pro running back rushed for 114 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns. McCaffery also had five catches for 25 yards.
San Francisco (8-3) scored on its opening drive. McCaffery had the big play with a run of 27 yards. Deebo Samuel finished off the nine play 75-yard drive with a two-yard end around rushing touchdown as Seattle won the coin toss but elected to receive the second half kickoff.
McCaffery scored his first touchdown early in the second quarter when he powered his way through for a one-yard touchdown. Then he scored his second touchdown with 5:11 remaining in the second quarter when he scampered in from eight yards out after breaking a couple of tackles to complete an eight play 58-yard drive to give the 49ers a 21-3 lead.
McCaffery has 11 rushing touchdowns on the season and is tied for the league lead with former 49ers running back Raheem Mostert. His 939 rushing yards currently leads the NFL.
“I think anytime you’re behind this offensive line you have to have a lot of trust and patience,” said McCaffery on his second rushing touchdown. “They did such a great job all day. The tight ends blocked well. Juice (Kyle Juszczyk) always blocks well. I mean these guys work so hard in the run game. So, you just got to trust it and stay on your landmarks. You never know when the hole can open (up)”.
San Francisco took advantage of a special team’s turnover late in the first half. DeeJay Dallas muffed a punt when he took his off the ball. The ball was recovered by Ronnie Bell at the Seattle 22-yard line. The 49ers converted the gift into three points with a Jake Moody 32-yard field goal for a comfortable 24-3 lead at halftime.
“We needed to start faster. We gotta play complimentary football that’s just how it is. You can’t spot them 24 points in the first half. At the end of the day, we gotta be better,” Seattle safety Quandre Diggs said.
Seattle (6-5) changed the momentum of them game to start the second half when Jordyn Brooks intercepted Brock Purdy and returned it 12-yards for a pick six.
After a three and out by the Seahawk defense, Geno Smith marched Seattle down the field on a 14 play 78-yard drive. However, the 49ers defense held its ground as the drive stalled out at their 23-yard line. The home team settled for a Jason Meyers 30-yard field goal.
San Francisco’s defense shutout Seattle in the fourth quarter as they front line put pressure on Smith and sacked him twice. They also made back-to-back short yardage stands when Seattle run the ball unsuccessfully on 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1 as Seattle turned the ball over on downs late in the fourth quarter.
“The way the defense played tonight was unbelievable. They kept them out of the endzone the whole game and had six sacks. I thought the way our corners played on the outside was a real impressive game, really excited to watch it,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said.
Nick Bosa had two sacks and Javon Hargrave had 1.5 sacks as the front four dominated the trenches in the second half. Ambry Thomas chipped in with an interception and Charvarius Ward had an impressive game pass defending the deep ball against DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.
Purdy iced the game for San Francisco when he connected with Brandon Aiuyk for a 28-yard touchdown reception with 7:51 remaining in the game.
Purdy finished 21 of 30 for 209 yards to go with his one touchdown and interception. Samuel led all receivers with seven catches in 79 yards. Elijah Mitchell chipped in with 39 yards on seven carries.
It was a long night for Smith, who was dealing with an elbow injury he suffered this past Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams, as he was 18 of 27 for 180 yards with one interception and was sacked a total of six times. Zach Charbonnet, who was the lead back in place of injured Kenneth Walker III, led the Seahawks in rushing with 47 yards on 14 carries. Jaxon Smith-Njigba chipped in with two catches for 41 yards.
Numerous 49er players enjoyed turkey on the field during the postgame interview on NBC. It has become tradition for the members of the winning team to celebrate a win with food.
GAME NOTES: San Francisco finished 5-for-11 on third down conversions. Seattle was 3-for-11.
UP NEXT: San Francisco take on the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday 12/3 at 1:25pm at Lincoln Financial Field.
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