SEATTLE — San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has blown a few leads, but not on Thursday night.
The Seattle Seahawks attempt at a comeback fell short in a 36-24 defeat at Lumen field. Losers of three games in 11 days, Seattle dropped to 3-3 after a 3-0 start to the season.
“It stings.” Seahawks first-year head coach Mike Macdonald said. “It stings to have lost three in a row, to lose to your division rival at home, in prime time in such a great environment. Our guys fought there tails off down to the last minute, but we’re not playing well enough.”
San Francisco, which has lost 18 double-digit leads since 2017, improved to 3-3 and moved into first place in the NFC West.
The Seahawks, down 23-3 early in the third quarter, pulled within 23-17 late in the third. The two teams traded punts, and then Geno Smith’s first-down interception put the 49ers at the Seattle 15. The pick appeared to be set up by a poor route from receiver DK Metcalf, though after the game Smith brushed off questions about the interception.
Metcalf, who was targeted a team-high 11 times, finished with three catches for 48 yards.
San Francisco scored three plays later when 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy threw his third TD of the game, this one to George Kittle for a 29-17 advantage with 6:20 to go.
“Obviously we did a lot of things that you don’t want to do when you talk about winning football games,” said Smith, who has thrown six interceptions in six games. “We didn’t control the ball, didn’t control the clock, turned the ball over, had penalties — all the things that we talk about every week.
“We’re just getting in our own way, and we’ve got to stop doing that.”
Smith finished 30 of 52 for 312 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions and a passer rating of 65.5. The Seahawks finished with three turnovers compared to none for the 49ers.
“That’s probably the biggest thing right now that’s hurting our football team,” Macdonald said. “We have to take care of the ball better. We have to practice it better. You get what you emphasize, and apparently we’re not emphasizing it enough.”
The Seahawks pulled within 29-24 with 1:44 remaining. In need of a quick stop, 49ers running back Isaac Guerendo tore off a 76-yard run to essentially seal it. Two plays later, fullback Kyle Juszcyk scored from six yards out.
Plagued by slow starts all season, the Seahawks failed to get into the end zone until the third quarter, when Laviska Shenault Jr. broke away for a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to pull Seattle within 23-10 with 9:54 remaining in the third.
Prior to that, Seattle struggled in all phases. Their first six drives: Smith interception, punt, punt, Shenault fumble on a kickoff return, punt. The Seahawks finally put together a drive at the end of the half that ended with a Jason Myers 20-yard field goal after three straight passes into the end zone fell incomplete.
The mantra since Sunday’s loss to the Giants was to get the ball to Kenneth Walker II more on Thursday. The Seahawks certainly tried. Walker touched the ball 22 times, but was limited to 32 yards on 14 rushing attempts and eight receptions for 37 yards.
Meanwhile, San Francisco suffocated the Seahawks with a combination of long drives and big plays. The 49ers opening possession took 7 minutes, 28 seconds off the clock as they used 13 plays to cover 90 yards capped by a Matthew Wright 20-yard field goal.
After a Seahawks punt, San Francisco’s second drive took only the 12 seconds Deebo Samuel needed to race 76 yards for a catch-and-run TD. Samuel found open field in front of him when Seahawks safety Julian Love took a bad angle while trying to intercept Brock Purdy’s underthrown pass.
“Great route versus what scheme were in,” said Love, who led the team with 10 tackles (seven solo). “He broke free a little bit. I took a poor angle going for the ball.
“That one’s on me. I owe this team a few more plays”
The Seahawks will have a few days to breathe before their next game at Atlanta on Oct. 20 but made it clear they need to get better to get off the losing streak.
“It’s going to give us a few days to reflect,” said Seahawks defensive end Leonard Williams, who recorded a team-high two quarterback hits. “Hopefully everybody is their biggest judge, because we all have to look inward and figure out what we can do as an individual to help this team.”
“We have the people in the building — our players, our coaches — to be a really good football team,” Macdonald said. “But right now, we’re coming up short.”
Click here for the full box score.
This story is courtesy of seattlesportsnow.com
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