Week 5 recap: 49ers 32, Seahawks 29
Seattle’s defense held San Francisco to 269 yards and 4 of 12 on third down, sacked Brock Purdy for the first time this season, and lost anyway. Seattle turned the ball over four times, and the 49ers scored 21 points off those turnovers before halftime, one of them without their offense on the field. Seattle came back to lead 26-21 in the third quarter, gave it back, tied it, and lost on Eddy Pineiro’s field goal with 1:56 left and a fourth-down catch by Cooper Kupp that was ruled short of the line. San Francisco is 5-0. Seattle is 3-2, two games back in the NFC West, and plays at Denver on Thursday.
How it happened
For the second week in a row, Sam Darnold threw an interception on Seattle’s first possession. On third-and-10 at the Seattle 11, after a Jaden Dugger sack, his short pass for Jaxon Smith-Njigba was picked off by Renardo Green at the 18. Four plays later Purdy hit Mike Evans for a 2-yard touchdown, 7-0.
Seattle got it back on special teams. Nehemiah Pritchett, playing gunner, hit Jacob Cowing as he tried to field Michael Dickson’s punt, the ball came loose, and tight end Eric Saubert recovered at the San Francisco 24. Officially it was a muff, not a forced fumble. Six plays later Emanuel Wilson ran in from 2 yards, 7-7. Seattle took a 10-7 lead on Jason Myers’ 49-yard field goal early in the second quarter, after a 61-yard drive that started at its own 8 with 39 seconds left in the first.
Then the second turnover. On the first play after a 49ers punt pinned Seattle at its own 9, Fred Warner forced a Wilson fumble and Malik Mustapha recovered at the 12. Christian McCaffrey ran 11 yards for a touchdown on the next snap, 14-10. Seattle’s answer was an 11-play drive that included a 15-yard penalty on Dre Greenlaw for hitting Darnold out of bounds on the Seattle sideline; Greenlaw was ejected after he head-butted Ernest Jones IV, who was not wearing a helmet. The drive also included George Holani fumbling after a catch with nobody near him (he recovered it) and two sacks, and ended in Myers’ 50-yard field goal on fourth-and-21, 14-13.
The third turnover was the one that hurt most. San Francisco’s last punt of the half was downed inside the Seattle 5 with 18 seconds left. On first down Holani ran left, was hit behind the line by Gracen Halton, and fumbled into the end zone, where Halton fell on it for a touchdown with 13 seconds left. San Francisco led 21-13 at halftime.
Darnold’s second interception, Green’s second, came two plays into the third quarter, and an unnecessary roughness penalty on Elijah Arroyo after it gave the 49ers the ball at the Seattle 39. This time the defense held, and Pineiro missed from 52 wide left. Myers made it 21-16 from 43. On the next series Pritchett jumped a Purdy throw for Cowing on third-and-7 and returned it 20 yards to the San Francisco 23, and three plays later Darnold found Smith-Njigba for a 16-yard touchdown on third-and-3. Seattle led 23-21. Drake Thomas then forced a Deebo Samuel fumble that Josh Jobe recovered at the San Francisco 36, upheld on review, and Myers kicked a 48-yarder, 26-21, with 3:02 left in the third.
San Francisco answered with a 12-play, 74-yard drive that took seven minutes. Purdy hit Brandin Cooks for a 7-yard touchdown with 11:02 left; the first two-point try to Evans fell incomplete, but a pass interference penalty on Jobe gave the 49ers another one from the 1, and Purdy hit Evans, 29-26. Seattle drove to the San Francisco 17, Darnold was sacked by Keion White on third down, and Myers tied it from 40, his fifth field goal. The 49ers went 43 yards in eight plays and Pineiro kicked a 44-yarder with 1:56 left, 32-29.
Seattle’s last drive started at its own 15 after a holding penalty wiped out part of Rashid Shaheed’s kickoff return. Darnold hit Smith-Njigba for 35 yards to midfield, then threw three incompletions, two of them for Smith-Njigba. On fourth-and-10 he threw short left to Kupp, who dove toward the marker at the San Francisco 41 and was ruled short. Replay upheld it, and Purdy knelt twice.
The numbers
| Seahawks | 49ers | |
|---|---|---|
| Total yards | 251 | 269 |
| First downs | 14 | 14 |
| Rushing | 26 for 89 | 24 for 94 |
| Passing | 18 of 29, 195 yards | 19 of 29, 189 yards |
| Turnovers | 4 | 3 |
| Points off turnovers | 17 | 21 |
| Sacks | 3 (14 yards) | 5 (33 yards) |
| Third down | 3 of 12 | 4 of 12 |
| Red zone | 2 of 3 | 3 of 3 |
| Penalties | 5 for 46 | 8 for 70 |
| Time of possession | 30:58 | 29:02 |
Darnold went 18 of 29 for 195 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, and was sacked five times. Smith-Njigba caught five of eight targets for 102 yards and the touchdown, his fourth 100-yard game in five; the club notes that only Elroy Hirsch, Jerry Rice and Randy Moss have had 100 yards and a touchdown in four of their team’s first five games. Wilson carried 20 times for 61 yards and a touchdown, and Holani caught four passes for 24 yards. Myers was 5 for 5 on field goals, from 49, 50, 43, 48 and 40 yards, and scored 17 of Seattle’s 29 points.
On defense, Jones had nine tackles and a sack, and Byron Murphy II had six tackles, two sacks and three tackles for loss. Pritchett had the interception and a pass breakup. Purdy went 19 of 29 for 189 yards, two touchdowns and an interception; Evans caught seven passes for 113 yards, and McCaffrey ran 11 times for 68 yards and a touchdown. Green had both interceptions. The attendance was 68,664.
The passing yards in the table are the quarterbacks’ totals; ESPN’s team passing figures, net of sacks, are 162 for Seattle and 175 for San Francisco. Points off turnovers are counted from the play-by-play: the 49ers’ 21 are two touchdown drives and Halton’s touchdown; Seattle’s 17 are two touchdowns and a field goal.
What decided it
The turnovers, for the second time in three weeks. Mike Macdonald: “We need to grow quickly in terms of complimentary football, definitely taking care of the football. Way too many giveaways at this point in the season.” Smith-Njigba: “We have to stay out of our own way at the end of the day. I mean, we spotted them 21 points.” Kupp, on the end of the half: “We had given them two short fields that the ’Niners did a great job capitalizing on, then we just gift them seven points there at the end. We just can’t do that.”
Outside those 21 points, the 49ers scored 11: the Cooks touchdown drive and two-point conversion, and Pineiro’s field goal. Jones: “It’s nobody’s fault. We could have executed better in the red zone. We’ve been saying that, but we’ve got to get stops. If you turn those touchdowns to three points, you may be looking at a different game.”
The last play came down to where the ball was. Kupp: “I knew it was close, but clearly it was short. There’s not enough there, I’ve got to find a way to get that fourth down.” Macdonald: “They said he was short, so we’ve got to live with it.” In a pool report interview, the league’s vice president of instant replay, Mark Butterworth, said reviewers look at where the ball crosses the sideline: “There was nothing clear and obvious to overturn the call on the field.” Smith-Njigba, on the third-down throw before it: “Really, just catch the ball, catch the damn football at the end of the day. I know I’ll make the next one.”
Pritchett’s day was the bright spot. Macdonald: “Nehemiah played a great game, man. … He’s earned a role on our defense.” And after a week of talk about the seven personal fouls against the Chargers, Seattle had five penalties for 46 yards. Macdonald on the sideline scrum after the Greenlaw hit: “EJ led the charge, I know it was an emotional thing, but we’ve got to stay in the pocket too for us to play our best ball.”
Our preview said Seattle 24, San Francisco 21, and under the 47.5 total. Both were wrong. The preview said the game turned on getting to Purdy without personal fouls, and Seattle did both: three sacks, the first Purdy had taken this season, and no repeat of the Chargers game’s penalties. What it missed was Seattle’s own ball security, the thing that cost it at Washington. Seattle lost as a 3-point favorite, so it is now 1-2-2 against the spread, and the game went over, 61 points against the 46.5 total on game morning; the full record is on our odds page.
Injuries, and what comes next
Drake Thomas hurt his ankle in the second quarter, was listed questionable to return, and came back to finish the game; Macdonald said there were no other injury updates. Ty Okada made his season debut after missing four games with his hamstring, and Leonard Williams was active after the ankle injury that kept him out of practice Thursday. Zach Charbonnet is not expected to come off the physically unable to perform list for Thursday. Macdonald: “The plan right now isn’t for sure for him to play. That could change, but as of right now, he’s not going to play.” With Jadarian Price on injured reserve, that leaves Wilson, Holani, Velus Jones Jr. and Robert Henry Jr., who was inactive Sunday. On a short week the practice reports come Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with game statuses on Wednesday, on the injury report.
Around the division, San Francisco is 5-0, Arizona lost 45-21 at home to Detroit to fall to 1-4, and the Rams, 2-2, play Buffalo on Monday night. Next is Seattle at Denver on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. Pacific on Prime Video; the Broncos are also 3-2 after coming from behind to win 23-17 at the Chargers. As of Monday morning, October 12, DraftKings has Seattle favored by 3 with a total of 41.5. Macdonald: “Let’s figure out ways to get better and let’s do it in a hurry because we play pretty soon.” The game guide has the broadcast and the Denver details.