The San Francisco 49ers faced the Seattle Seahawks in a rematch of Week 18’s clash to determine the NFC’s No. 1 seed. San Francisco couldn’t compete with Seattle in the regular season finale. But the 49ers’ divisional round loss was far worse.
Seattle jumped out to a big lead early in Saturday’s matchup. The Seahawks scored 17 points in the first quarter and the 49ers couldn’t recover. San Francisco would lose in a 41-6 blowout. But Kyle Shanahan expressed appreciation for his team's resilience in a trying season.
“I just thanked them for the whole season, how much they battled through everything,” Shanahan said after the game, per OurSF49ers. “Just kinda thanked them for what they’ve done all year. [I’ve] been extremely, extremely proud of everyone in that [locker] room throughout this year.”
Resilient 49ers season ends in divisional round rout
Saturday’s loss dropped Shanahan’s playoff record to 9-5. And the 35-point drubbing was the 49ers’ worst loss since Week 3 of the 2015 season when Jim Tomsula was the head coach.
“Obviously we were real disappointed with today. We obviously didn’t have it today. Credit to them. [I] tried not to harp on that, we can discuss some of that stuff on Monday when we get back together,” Shanahan said. “I know everyone in there was sick about tonight and the way that went in every facet. But I tried not to make it about tonight when I was in there with them.”
The 49ers fell behind on the first play of the game when Rashid Shaheed returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. The Seahawks never looked back, pouring it on in a rout.
San Francisco never got comfortable with Seattle’s fearsome defense wreaking havoc. Brock Purdy only took two sacks and five QB hits. But he was running for his life on nearly every drop back. The 49ers failed to establish the run early and were forced to abandon the ground game after falling behind. Purdy was the team’s leading rusher with 37 yards. He was replaced by Mac Jones when the game got out of hand.
