The San Francisco 49ers didn’t put up much of a fight in the NFC Divisional Round against the Seattle Seahawks, losing 41-6 as their season ended at Lumen Field.
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It was the second time in a two-week period that the Seahawks beat the 49ers, with Seattle preventing San Francisco from scoring even a single touchdown over the full eight quarters. And yet some of the 49ers declined to give the Seahawks credit after Saturday’s game, chalking up the losses to their injury woes that resulted in players like Pro Bowl tight end George Kittle and linebacker Fred Warner missing the game.
Left tackle Trent Williams, another perennial Pro Bowler for the Niners, said after the game there were “a lot of things” his team was up against, “not just Seattle.” He also pointed at San Francisco’s Week 1 win at Seattle, saying it showed what the Niners could do as a healthy team.
“Obviously when you’re playing with guys you’re signing off the practice squad, guys you’re taking off the street, I mean, you gotta temper your expectations a little bit,” Williams said.
And then there was cornerback Deommodore Lenoir, who has stirred up things with the Seahawks plenty in the past. Asked if he thought Saturday’s game would have had a different outcome if the 49ers were more healthy, he replied, “Landslide.”
The reality is that the Niners weren’t healthy, and Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk emphasized on Monday how that’s an important part of being a successful football team that shouldn’t be overlooked.
“You’re not 70 strong,” said Brock Huard, a former NFL quarterback and longtime football broadcast analyst, referring to 53-man active roster and 17-man practice squad NFL teams maintain. “Trent Williams – ah, we got guys off the street. That’s part of your 70 strong.”
Huard’s co-host, Mike Salk, was particularly fired up about the 49ers talking after Saturday’s games.
“It is such another reason everyone in San Francisco can shut up,” Salk said. “Oh, (49ers running back) Christian McCaffrey was kind of beat up. Yeah, of course he was, because you ran him into the ground. Because your roster wasn’t built to withstand the rigors of an entire season. … That’s why you make difficult decisions over the course of a season to take people out even though you want them in.”
Salk shut down the excuses from the 49ers.
“I just don’t like the talk afterwards. I don’t like excuses. If you lose, you lose. Shut up and go away. Like, hey, tip your cap. They were better than us two of the last three weeks. They beat the heck out of us. Not whining and headbutting and (saying) we were hurt – like, shut up. It’s ridiculous.
“Don’t take away from your opponent when they beat you. Don’t talk ahead of time and then don’t squawk afterwards. Win. Do your talking on the field. And it’s not like you lost in the last moment with a bad call. You got your butt kicked for 60 straight minutes. This game was over 5 minutes into the game. … Go on vacation.”
Watch Salk’s rant in the video at the top of this post, or find it at the end of the Takeaways segment in the audio player below. Catch Brock and Salk from 6-10 a.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.
More on the Seattle Seahawks
• How Williams’ sack exemplified Seahawks’ tight-knit culture
• Do Shanahan and 49ers have a Mike Macdonald problem?
• Macdonald shares update on Seahawks QB Sam Darnold’s status
• Seahawks lose RB Zach Charbonnet to ‘significant’ knee injury
• Seattle Seahawks to host rival LA Rams in NFC Championship
