SANTA CLARA – Linebacker Fred Warner, sporting a red welt above his right eye and familiar heartache inside his black jacket, knew just how to summarize the 49ers’ feelings after Sunday’s 20-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
“It’s just infuriating honestly,” Warner said.
“That’s a good word,” running back Christian McCaffrey said.
It was the 49ers’ third defeat this season via a fourth-quarter collapse, the others also coming against NFC West opponents — at the Los Angeles Rams in Week 3, and at home against the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 6
If the 49ers (5-5) fail to win a third straight division title, it will be that trio of losses that ruins them. Sunday’s was assured once Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith scrambled 13 yards for the deciding touchdown with 12 seconds remaining, capping an 80-play drive inside the final three minutes.
Next up is a visit Sunday to the Green Bay Packers, who improved to 7-3 after winning in Chicago 20-19 on a blocked field goal as time expired.
“It’s NFL football. Every game is going to be close like that,” 49ers linebacker DeVondre Campbell said. “We’ve just got to find a way to get it done.”
The Seahawks (5-5) snapped a six-game losing streak to the 49ers thanks in massive part to Smith’s heroics on the go-ahead 80-yard drive in the final three minutes. Smith completed 7-of-8 passes for 54 yards and had a 16-yard scramble two snaps before his touchdown. Smith overcame a sack by Leonard Floyd, all while Nick Bosa remained on the sideline with a hip/oblique injury that forced him out in the third quarter and could shelve him longer.
“It’s not like us,” Warner said of late-game defense in his seventh-year tenure. “But that’s just what we’ve shown this year, so I guess until we stop doing that, that’s who we are.”
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to find a way to close games and we have to emphasize that,” cornerback Isaac Yiadom said. “… I’ve been on 5-5 teams and the confidence is not there. I feel this is a great team.”
Remember when defensive issues overshadowed Jauan Jennings’ heroics in last season’s Super Bowl? Well, it happened again in this game, and it happened in a Week 3 loss at the Rams. After losing to the Rams despite his prolific outing (175 yards, three touchdowns), Jennings declined to speak with reporters at his locker, and he again declined interviews after this one (10 catches, 91 yards, touchdown).
Jennings delivered what should have been a winning touchdown catch earlier in the fourth quarter on a drive that stayed alive with a pair of his third-and-long conversions. Up until Smith’s final touchdown run through the 49ers’ beleaguered defense, no play Sunday was more impressive than when Jennings, on third-and-11, carried four defenders to the 8-yard line for a 13-yard gain to set up his touchdown.
Two snaps later, Brock Purdy faked a handoff and found Jennings open for a 3-yard touchdown and the 49ers’ third go-ahead score of a back-and-forth game. Earlier on the drive, on third-and-11, Jennings made a 14-yard grab at the Seahawks’ 20.
Jennings finished with 10 catches on 11 targets for 91 yards. His final grab was a 5-yarder on third-and-11, and because his second effort wasn’t enough to move the chains, the 49ers punted to renew the Seahawks’ comeback bid.
With 2:38 remaining, the Seahawks took over at their 20-yard line, with 49ers’ pass-rushing star Nick Bosa sidelined since the third quarter by a hip injury. DK Metcalf opened the drive with an 11-yard catch that 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan unsuccessfully challenged. Smith then peppered the 49ers’ defense with an array of completions before finally racing through himself for the winning points.
Earlier, the 49ers defense figured to have locked up this win once they stopped the Seahawks’ on a fourth-and-1 charge at the 49ers’ 37-yard line, with just under four minutes to go. Dee Winters and Ji’Ayir Brown officially got credited for stopping Zach Charbonnet, with other help coming from Maliek Collins and Fred Warner.
“Just extremely disappointed. We had a chance to put them away a number of times throughout the game,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Our defense played great all game until that last drive. If you let people hang around, that’s what happens.”
The 49ers fell behind 13-10 with 3:25 left in the third quarter, when Kenneth Walker’s 1-yard touchdown run capped the Seahawks’ 70-yard drive, most of which unfolded after Bosa recorded his second sack of the day and exited for treatment on his problematic left hip.
The 49ers’ offense noticeably lacked George Kittle’s pizazz as the All-Pro tight end missed his second game this season with a hamstring injury. They have now lost 11 of the last 14 games he has not played, dating back to November 2020.
After dully taking a 7-6 lead into halftime, the 49ers emerged with an eye-opening play: pass rushers Leonard Floyd and Bosa flushed Smith out of the pocket and he unloaded a sideline pass Yiadom easily intercepted in Seahawks’ territory.
Yiadom’s return to the 27-yard line put the 49ers in scoring position, and they ultimately cashed in with a 33-yard field goal from Jake Moody for a 10-6 lead. More penalties (holding on Aaron Banks; illegal formation on Jauan Jennings) and another injury (Kyle Juszczyzk) kept that short-field drive from being more potent.
Brock Purdy used his legs to altogether spark, pause and finish the 49ers’ initial scoring drive for a 7-3 lead. He had a 9-yard scramble on then second snap, then after stumbling for a 5-yard loss on a rollout, he promptly raced right and dove to whisk the ball over the goal line around the front right pylon, with 10 seconds left in the first quarter.
It was Purdy’s career-high fourth rushing touchdown, and his fourth in as many games. Through two drives, Purdy’s passing line read 6-of-6 for 43 yards passing, with four completions to Jauan Jennings.
Not to be overlooked, Jake Moody made the point-after kick with new holder Pat O’Donnell, who also stepped in as the punter with Mitch Wishnowsky going on injured reserve Saturday.
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At halftime, Christian McCaffrey barely had outgained Purdy on the ground (37 yards to 32), reflecting an overall offensive output foiled by poor blocks, an interception, a sack, and penalties.
The Seahawks converted their interception into their second scoring drive, settling for a Jason Myers’ field goal (57 yards) after a third-down sack by Yetur Gross-Matos, who returned from a six-game hiatus. Purdy was intercepted on the 49ers’ third series when a pass to McCaffrey was broken up by Devon Witherspoon and grabbed by defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins at the 49ers’ 29-yard line.
The Seahawks scored first, and it was Nick Bosa producing the third-down sack that led to Jason Myers’ 52-yard field goal; Bosa has a team-leading 6 ½ sacks on the season.
This week in 49ers’ special teams chaos: Jordan Mason muffed a second-quarter kickoff return when the ball ricocheted off his knee and out of bounds, but the 49ers retained possession for an ensuing 7-minute drive that would yield no points but instead multiple penalties, a sack and a punt.
