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-yard 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 final drive. 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 new 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, 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’ 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 Bosa sidelined. 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.
“They just made plays at critical moments,” Campbell said.
Smith ran just four times (29 yards), and he completed 25-of-32 passes for 221 yards. Purdy scrambled five times (40 yards) and completed 21-of-28 for just 159 yards.
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 were officially credited for stopping Zach Charbonnet, with other help coming from Maliek Collins and Warner.
“We had a chance to put them away a number of times throughout the game,” 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 left oblique/hip after he struggled the last two weeks with a right hip issue.
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 missed, dating back to November 2020.
McCaffrey again delivered over 100 yards from scrimmage in his second game back from Achilles issues, but none of his 19 carries (79 yards) or four receptions (27 yards) went longer than 11 yards, and he kicked himself for not icing the victory in the closing minutes.
After dully taking a 7-6 lead into halftime, the 49ers emerged with an eye-opening play: Pass rushers 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 Jennings) and another injury (Kyle Juszczyk) kept that short-field drive from being more potent.
The 49ers matched a season-high with nine penalties (54 yards).
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 the second snap, then after stumbling for a 5-yard loss on a rollout, he promptly raced to the front right pylon with 10 seconds left in the first quarter. It was Purdy’s fourth rushing touchdown in as many games, a career-high for a season.
The 49ers’ special teams again delivered chaos but escaped blame for this one as Jordan Mason muffed a second-quarter kickoff return but the ball ricocheted off his knee and out of bounds; the 49ers’ ensuing 7-minute drive yielded no points but multiple penalties, a sack and a punt.
“It was one of those games you couldn’t hurt yourself,” Purdy said. “We had mishaps with penalties, and had opportunities where we were moving the ball and we hurt ourselves. Once we have momentum, we have to finish drives.”
Ten games in, it’s looking more like they could finish out of the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
“It’s hard to think of the big picture. We have a lot of games left,” Bosa countered. “All we have to do is get in the dance and I still have confidence.”
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Source: www.mercurynews.com