The 49ers had a rough end to the season on Saturday.
The San Francisco 49ers suffered one of the biggest losses in franchise postseason history, losing 41-6 to the Seattle Seahawks in a crushing way to end their season on Saturday.
It was a rough game from the start for the 49ers, as they gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown on the first play of the game and found themselves trailing 17-0 by the end of the first quarter. That deficit never went away, and the 49ers finally saw a miracle season come to an end.
Here are three quick takeaways from the 49ers 41-6 loss to the Seahawks on Saturday.
Personnel issues
The 49ers’ personnel issues have been well-known for much of the season on the defensive side of the ball, as the team fell after losing Nick Bosa and Fred Warner for the season.
They did have a couple of good performances and had a penchant for key plays, but those personnel issues were highlighted on Saturday. The 49ers secondary was completely outmatched. Renardo Green was benched early for a mistake that he made for the second straight weekend. His replacement, Darrell Luter Jr., immediately gave up a touchdown to Jaxon Smith-Njigba (and that wasn’t the only crucial mistake from Luter).
San Francisco’s safeties continued to struggle with tackling. The 49ers did not get much pressure on Sam Darnold. And they couldn’t stop the run at all, with the edges getting dominated, allowing Seattle to get whatever they wanted outside the tackles.
Offensively, though, the 49ers had quite a few shortcomings surrounding Brock Purdy. The wide receivers continued to struggle to separate, which resulted in extra pressure coming Purdy’s way, as the quarterback had nowhere to go with the football. San Francisco’s offensive line also was beaten often by Seattle’s elite defensive front, which has difference-makers all across the line.
They dearly missed George Kittle, as tight ends Jake Tonges and Luke Farrell both had back-breaking mistakes in the loss. It was just an ugly showing of where San Francisco’s personnel was lacking on both sides of the ball.
Purdy and the offense
Heading into the game, I noted how Purdy needed to elevate those around him offensively for the 49ers to have a chance. While he wasn’t the biggest problem by any means in Week 18, I felt that wasn’t the case in the 13-3 loss against the Seahawks.
Well, that definitely was the case on Saturday, as Purdy had a pretty strong showing and was the sole player keeping San Francisco somewhat afloat. He constantly extended plays and made some magic happen. And yet, the 49ers scored just six points, showing the major disparity between the two teams.
The 49ers have some big questions to answer at wide receiver after the struggles they’ve had recently. The run game didn’t flourish either, and the pass protection couldn’t match up with Seattle’s elite defensive line.
Purdy elevated his teammates until he was pulled in the fourth quarter. It just wasn’t enough on a tough day for the 49ers.
Brutal mistakes
The 49ers aren’t a good enough team to overcome many major mistakes. And that’s what dug them into a hole on Saturday.
The mistakes started early with some poor tackling and angles on the opening kickoff, leading to a Rashid Shaheed touchdown. Then came a questionable 4th & 1 option call that prompted a turnover on downs. Then came the Jake Tonges fumble after a nice throw from Brock Purdy. Renardo Green had a coverage mistake that let a 2nd & 20 happen, which led to his benching and another cornerback mistake as his replacement, Darrell Luter Jr., struggled in coverage, leading to a touchdown.
The 49ers finally got on the board with a field goal after that and forced a punt, but had a brutal incompletion to Ricky Pearsall on third down that could’ve been caught and would’ve extended the chains. Instead, San Francisco kicked another field goal, keeping it a two-score game, and Seattle scored a touchdown to end the half. Brutal stretch.
The mistakes only compounded in the second half, but San Francisco had plenty early that took away its chance of winning this game.
Category: General Sports
