The 49ers took care of business on Thanksgiving. They thumped the Seahawks 31-13 in the second-biggest win in franchise history in the Pacific Northwest.
Things got dicey in the second half, but San Francisco righted the ship and rolled to a blowout victory.
Here are our notes from each quarter:
First quarter
– The 49ers all-white uniforms are so fire.
– Good downfield throw from Brock Purdy to George Kittle after Purdy got flushed out of the pocket. Kittle was out of bounds when he hauled it in, but the idea was a good one. The QB fit the throw in between a couple defensive backs.
– A Charlie Woerner sighting! His first catch of the year goes for 9 yards.
– Sheesh, Christian McCaffrey is cooking. He has 32 yards on two carries and one catch for 14 yards on the first series.
– Elijah Mitchell sighting on a second-and-7 in the red zone on the 49ers’ first series. He split out wide before the snap. The play went to Deebo Samuel for a first down.
– A walk-in touchdown for Deebo Samuel on a handoff gets the scoring started. What a methodical drive from San Francisco to give them a 7-0 lead. Nine plays, 71 yards was the scoring drive. Samuel lined up in the backfield and McCaffrey motioned in from the slot to an H-back spot. He feigned a shovel pass action while Samuel took the handoff for an easy score with the linebackers all frozen by the shovel pass action.
– Brutal from the 49ers’ kick coverage unit. They allow a 66-yard return on the kickoff after their touchdown that put the Seahawks at the 49ers’ 33 to start their first series.
– Excellent coverage from Charvarius Ward on WR DK Metcalf on a second-and-9.
– Wow. More good coverage from Ward on Metcalf and he nearly snagged it for a Pick-6. Good series from San Francisco’s defense after the special teams mishap. They forced a field goal that made it 7-3.
– Samuel is also cooking early. To go along with his rushing TD he has three catches for 56 yards.
– Abominable offensive series after a holding call on Jauan Jennings put the 49ers in a first-and-18. They went short completion, incomplete on a deep throw, screen for a loss of seven that took the 49ers out of field goal range. That’s a brutal play call and even worse execution.
– Nice work again from the 49ers defense. They stuffed a run on first down and then Geno Smith tripped on second down to put the Seahawks in a third-and-16. They punted after a short third-down completion. San Francisco is flying on that side of the ball to start this one.
– Holy smokes. Purdy nearly took a sack, but somehow snuck out a throw to George Kittle, who grabbed it for a one-yard gain to end the quarter.
End of first quarter: 49ers 7, Seahawks 3
Second quarter
– Nobody runs into more hits than Purdy. He cuts out of so many rushing lanes to run into a defender. A defensive holding call bailed him out of a third-down run where he went for no gain after slamming into Seahawks LB Bobby Wagner.
– There’s the weekly McCaffrey touchdown. He plowed in from a yard out after setting the team up with a first-and-goal with a good short-yardage run. It’s 14-3, 49ers after the TD.
– Ambry Thomas continues to show up. He jumped a throw to Tyler Lockett and hauled it in for the interception before falling out of bounds. That gives San Francisco great field position. The 49ers coverage has been awesome.
– Elijah Mitchell’s first carry comes with around 12:30 left in the second quarter. He ran up the middle for a couple yards.
– Another screen gets blown up for a loss of three yards. It looked like Colton McKivitz took way too long to get outside and there was nobody to block for Mitchell. An abomination in the screen game for the 49ers.
– Now a sack on third-and-11 and the 49ers will punt. A dreadful result for them after the interception.
– Another three-and-out for Seattle. DK Metcalf nearly beat Charvarius Ward for a 98-yard touchdown, but Geno Smith’s throw led the WR out of bounds. The 49ers dodged a bullet on that throw.
– A Brandon Aiyuk sighting! His first catch goes for 22 yards. The 49ers are having too much downfield success to run screens.
– Man, the 49ers interior OL is getting whooped.
– Great defensive play by Devon Witherspoon to break up what would’ve been a touchdown. He wasn’t even looking and figured out a way to get a hand on the ball.
– What a run by McCaffrey for an eight-yard touchdown. He started left, found no room, cut it back through a small crease and plowed in for a score through two tacklers. That was a super impressive individual effort for the RB’s second TD of the game. It’s 21-3, 49ers.
– Nice play by Javon Hargrave to get in for a sack. Nick Bosa and Chase Young would’ve gotten there had Hargrave not knifed in as quickly as he did. That’s how this defensive front is supposed to look.
– Another three-and-out for the 49ers. They’ve alternated touchdowns and punts on their six series.
– Oh a muffed punt! Return man DJ Dallas dropped the punt, nearly picked it up, but Charlie Woerner flew in to knock the ball away and eventually Ronnie Bell came up with it for the 49ers’ second takeaway of the game.
– Third-and-4 from the Seattle 16 and Purdy checks it down to Samuel for two yards. It’s clear the 49ers are content to just take care of the ball in this one. That’s not a terrible plan given how Seattle has looked offensively.
– A 32-yard Jake Moody field goal before the half makes it 24-3 in favor of the road team.
– Bad end of the half for the 49ers defense. They let Seattle cruise 41 yards on just four plays to set up a field goal before the end of the half.
– Jason Myers pushed the kick wide right, so the 49ers retain their three-touchdown lead.
Halftime: 49ers 24, Seahawks 3
Third quarter
– More bad looks for the 49ers defense to start the second half. Seattle is at midfield in two plays.
– Alas, Nick Bosa ends the series with a sack after Seattle got down to the 49ers’ 35-yard line. That’s much more like San Francisco’s defense, and the sack takes the Seahawks out of field goal range.
– Didn’t matter. Brock Purdy threw a pick 6 on a ball way behind Christian McCaffrey. That was a terrible throw that came after another bad ball to Deebo Samuel. It’s 24-10, 49ers.
– Now a three-and-out for San Francisco. This is going about as poorly as possible for them.
– Sick one-handed catch by rookie WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a first-down on a third-and-long. That might have saved the game for Seattle.
– The Seahawks offense is rolling now. Momentum has completely spun on the 49ers. Seattle has gone 71 yards on nine plays and San Francisco doesn’t have any answers.
– Seattle’s first play in the red zone is an 11-yard run for Geno Smith. This is on Steve Wilks to make an adjustment now.
– Good pass breakup in the end zone from Ambry Thomas on Smith-Njigba.
– There’s another sack from Arik Armstead and Javon Hargrave. The 49ers brought a ton of heat and it was the two big defensive tackles who came up with the sack to force a field goal. It’s 24-13, 49ers.
– A 15-yard run by Deebo Samuel is exactly what the 49ers needed to put them up at their own 40. That was really well-executed, particularly by Brandon Aiyuk and Kyle Juszczyk who got out front to throw a couple key blocks.
End of third quarter: 49ers 24, Seahawks 13
Fourth quarter
– The 49ers were going for it on fourth-and-3, but a false start on Jon Feliciano forced them to punt. Just a dreadful second half for San Francisco.
– Woof. Ji’Ayir Brown got shaken out of his shoes in the open field by RB Zach Charbonnet.
– Randy Gregory read the heck out of a screen and dropped Charbonnet for a big loss on a first down.
– The 49ers bring the house again on third-and-8. Armstead and Bosa getting home for the sack that took the Seahawks out of range to maybe go for it on fourth down. They needed that stop in the worst way.
– Nice run by Elijah Mitchell to pick his way through a small crease for nine yards.
– He followed that up by plowing ahead for five and a first down.
– Oh man, what a throw from Purdy to Brandon Aiyuk for 28 yards and a touchdown. He fit that in between multiple Seahawks and hit his receiver in stride for a score. The 49ers are now up 31-13 and that should just about do it from Seattle.
– My goodness, another big return out to the Seattle 37. That’s been a problem for the 49ers.
– A fourth-and-inches for Seattle gets stuffed by Fred Warner. If Seattle had any hope — it’s snuffed out now.
Final score: 49ers 31, Seahawks 13
