When you get your butt kicked in the fashion the San Francisco 49ers did on Saturday night against the Seattle Seahawks, it should be easy to acknowledge who the better team was. A 35-point loss was going to happen with Fred Warner, or if John Lynch made a trade at the deadline, or any other excuse you’ve seen since the loss.
The Niners shot themselves in the foot so many times that they needed to reload. That didn’t help their case as a short-handed underdog on the road. We’ll talk about the loss all week and how that’ll shape the 49ers’ path moving forward, starting with the Winners and Losers from Saturday night.
The Seahawks played with a level of physicality that few players offensively were prepared for. Trent Williams was. He had multiple takedowns in pass protection and, while he allowed a quarterback hit, looked like the one player holding his own and not physically overwhelmed upfront.
Winters was one of the few defensive players who matched Seattle’s physicality. He had nine tackles, five stops, three tackles for loss, two of which were “hustle stops,” and also had a pair of quarterback pressures, including a quarterback hit. Winters was flying around as you’d want from your WILL linebacker. He cut down on his missed tackles this time around, only having one. Winters was targeted four times in coverage and allowed 20 yards. It was the game the 49ers needed from Winters.
Rookie Jordan James and backup nickel Chase Lucas took bad routes on the opening kickoff, leading to a touchdown. The punter and kicker did their jobs on Saturday night, but Skyy Moore wasn’t able to get anything going, nor was Brian Robinson as a returner. You can’t give up a score in the playoffs.
Pearsall got bullied by the Seahawks’ secondary. He couldn’t haul in a third-down target after a diving attempt. That was as open as he has been all night. There were multiple reps in which Pearsall was jammed for multiple seconds during the play. He had a difficult time shaking free from Devon Witherspoon.
As the game progressed, Pearsall was looking to avoid contact. On the 4th & 2 play when the quarterback was sacked, Pearsall ran into Demarcus Robinson. It was an ugly outing from the Niners’ second-year wideout.
Mike Macdonald put a bullseye on Burford. His players took full advantage of Burford “getting out over his skis” as a blocker. Purford allowed a team-high six pressures, including a quarterback hit. Whether it was 1-on-1 or defending the different games Macdonald ran at him, Burford looked like a player who had no business being on the field.
It was like Austen Pleasants all over again. You look competent in limited action one week, and turn around only to show your true colors the next. Sigle had six tackles and a stop, but had a back-breaking defensive pass interference call when he made contact on the wide receiver too early.
On the touchdown that Darrell Luter allowed, Sigle got caught in no man’s land. Inexplicably, he decided to rush Sam Darnold at the last minute instead of getting in the throwing lane. Sigle also missed a tackle.
From an Xs and Os perspective, Macdonald and the Seahawks jumped on every high-low concept, were ready for any tricks Shanahan had up his sleeves, and thoroughly embarrassed the 49ers offense. It took throwing back across the field after scrambling right to pick up a first down.
From a coaching point of view, it seemed like Shanahan let his emotions get the best of him. The 49ers don’t have the kind of depth where they can afford to pull Renardo Green off the field. Yes, he made a mistake. You know who else did? Everybody else.
Shanahan was crying to the refs seemingly every time the camera panned to him in the first half. He was obviously frustrated and had every right to be, but you could tell he was upset with his team and just projecting it onto the refs.
Purdy felt the pressure get to him. There were a few plays where he climbed the pocket and flinched as he threw. That told me Seattle had already gotten the best of him. Purdy’s receiver didn’t put up the greatest fight on the interception, but the pass was about two yards off-target. You can’t blame Purdy for Jake Tonges fumbling, but you can blame him for putting the ball in harm’s way twice, and missing an open Jauan Jennings in the red zone on a wide-open downfield pass.
Purdy finished 8-for-16 under pressure for only 4.5 yards per attempt. His aggressiveness was admirable, but the production wasn’t there. He finished with a -.51 EPA per play and a 36 percent success rate. The 49ers needed their quarterback to be a star, and he was not.
When you only score six points and give up 41, you’re not going to find many positive performances. It’s easy to point the finger and highlight everything that went wrong. The 49ers lacked the physicality, talent, speed, and execution to win a road playoff game. That’s how you end up with the score 41-6.
They needed to play closer to flawless than average, and instead we got the 49ers’ D-game.
