The 49ers again could not hold onto a second-half lead against an NFC West foe, losing Sunday to the Seahawks by a score of 20-17.
Geno Smith’s 13-yard scramble with 12 seconds left gave Seattle the win and came two plays after he scrambled for 16 yards to enter the 49ers’ red zone.
That fateful drive and the rest of the fourth quarter were played without Nick Bosa on the field for San Francisco after he entered the game listed as questionable to play with a hip injury.
Smith finished the day 25-of-32 passing for 221 yards and an interception (Isaac Yiadom) while Brock Purdy was 21-of-28 for 159 yards, a touchdown and a pick (Johnathan Hankins). Christian McCaffrey ran 19 times for 79 yards and Purdy racked up 40 yards and a score on five rushes, but it wasn’t enough.
Here’s what coach Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers had to say after seeing their six-game winning streak over Seattle snapped at home:
Kyle Shanahan
On Smith’s scrambles:
He was just getting through the d-line. Everyone was in coverage. One was versus zone, the first one. The next one, I believe was
On if Bosa’s injury was the same hip injury as before:
No, I think it was a different one. … Not hip, oblique.
On evaluating Purdy’s game:
Same as everyone. Did some good things and missed some things.
On Kittle missing the game:
No setback, just couldn’t go. Would have been too risky.
On the message to the team:
We had every opportunity to run away with that and put it away. Though the defense did a bunch of that, you know. Especially getting the turnover in the third quarter. I felt real good about going in and scoring, and couldn’t overcome the penalties. It happened on two of our drives that cost us points. I think at the end of the second quarter and also in the beginning of the third quarter.
On missed opportunities:
When you have opportunities and you hurt yourself with penalties and a few missed opportunities, you got to finish it there at the end. I was disappointed because I thought the offense had every chance to do that and we didn’t get it done there.
On demoralization of having Bosa out:
We don’t think about that in the moment.
On Bosa’s injury outlook:
It’s his other hip and he couldn’t return to the game, which means it’s bothering him. So we’ll see how he is tomorrow. Hopefully it’s not too big of a deal, but that’s all we know right now.
Brock Purdy
On the loss:
We had some mishaps with some penalties and some opportunities where we’re moving the ball and we just kept hurting ourselves. So operationally, I feel like we gotta be better and can’t hurt ourselves.
On the path ahead to make the playoffs:
You gotta do it one at a time, you can’t look too far ahead. Up next is Green Bay and we have to be all-in on that and not look up. We just have to look down and do our jobs.
On the Seattle defense:
They did a good job with taking away our opportunities to go deep. They kept everything in front of them, it felt like.
On Kittle being out:
When you’ve got an explosive tight end like George who can run, block, catch the ball, do everything, a defense has to account for him.
On penalties:
It’s the NFL — you never want to put yourself in a hole. The guys across on the other side of the ball, they’re the best of the best in the world at what they do and so anytime you have some kind of holding, false start or something that can hinder you, it’s never a good thing.
On the loss:
Just because we had success the last couple years doesn’t mean the next play or just because something bad happens to us, we’re just magically going to make up for it. We got to have the chip on our shoulder to go take it every single play and down in a game. Just got to get back to that mindset.
Nick Bosa
On how he’s feeling:
Not great. That’s why I had to stop playing.
On the new injury:
I guess I was compensating. Pushed through last week. The same thing happened to my other oblique.
On being out at the end:
Brutal. The most important time in the game for me to be out there, I wasn’t able to be. I hate missing time. That’s why I pushed through last week.
On the playoff push:
It’s kind of hard to think about the big picture right now but we have a lot of games left and all we got to do is get in the dance.
Fred Warner
On the final drive:
We just couldn’t get a stop. Geno, kudos to him, using his legs to extend the drive and ultimately get into the end zone. We got to find a way.
On blowing leads:
It’s just infuriating, honestly. But I’m always going to have all the confidence in the world and everybody that we have in our building. All the answers are in here, it’s just about doing it.
On blowing leads after being such a winning team in recent years:
It’s not like us, but that’s what we’ve shown this year so I guess until we stop doing that, then that’s what we are.
On Smith’s touchdown scramble to win it:
We were in man coverage, so that means it’s going to be hard for us to get to him if he escapes because everybody’s got their back turned to him. So yeah, gotta be better.
Christian McCaffrey
On the mood in the locker room:
Not great. Definitely a tough loss. But just like any week, you gotta correct mistakes, get back to it and we got a big one this week.
On the blown leads:
I think each game has its own lens and they’re all different. This game, as an offense, I got to make a better read on one of those runs and maybe close it out there. So from my perspective, that’s what I got to do. It’d be great to not give them the ball back at the end there and be able to ice it.
On whether he feels like himself:
I feel like I can be a lot better. To miss time with ain injury is always tough. It’s not an excuse but I know I can be a lot better. I feel it. It’s coming, I just got to get rolling.
On whether this creates a chip on the shoulder entering Packers game:
I think we all have a chip on our shoulder for a lot of different reasons. It’s more about execution than an effort thing. We just got to execute better as a unit.