Wild Card Round Game Review: 49ers vs Seahawks

By Scooter_McG

The 49ers are through to the second week of the playoffs after demolishing the Seahawks in the second half to win the game 41-23. The 49ers scored touchdowns on three consecutive drives to open the second half and came up with two big takeaways to blow the game wide open and secure the win.

This game was expected to be a blowout for the 49ers and the second half was certainly that. However, the game looked like it was going to be an arm wrestle in the first half, in particular the second quarter, where the Seahawks scored 17 points to lead the 49ers by one at the half. After two 3-and-outs by the 49ers defense to open the game, the team struggled to stop the Seahawks running game and had issues getting off the field on 3rd downs. The offense also helped keep the Seahawks in the game by failing to convert good drives into touchdowns, having to settle for three FGs and a lone TD on five drives in the half. 

Brock Purdy looked uncomfortable in the first half, with a number of off target throws and poor reads. The offense was still able to get into scoring positions though courtesy of some excellent play calling and big plays from the skill positions. On defense, Kenneth Walker and DK Metcalf gave the 49ers all they could handle. In the end it was a case of the Seahawks playing their best football against a 49ers team that was a little out of sync, and in the end the 49ers should still have been ahead at the half if it wasn't for a very stupid late hit by Jimmie Ward on Geno Smith to allow a last second FG on the stroke of half time.

I'm not sure what Shanahan and the coaching staff said at half time, but I'm sure it wasn't complementary and whatever it was it certainly did the trick. 

The second half saw a different Brock Purdy. Instead of the off target and jittery player we saw in the first half we got a player that was back to finding his open player in space and on time. We saw a player that had a tremendous feel in the pocket and ability to extend plays in a way that allowed him to find guys after a play had broken down. We saw a confident QB that took what could have been his worst performance as the 49ers starting QB and turned it into one of the more memorable. He finished the game with a stat line of 18/30 for 332 yards, 3 TDs (all in the second half) and just the one sack taken, as well as 4 runs for 16 yards and another TD on a QB sneak in the first half. He should have had a fourth passing TD at the end of the game after some incredible work to extend the play but Aiyuk was unable to hold on in the back corner of the end zone. To understand how good the second half was, he was 9/19 with no passing TDs in the first half. 

The offense finished with 505 total yards and had 10 explosive plays on the day, including a 68 yard run by McCaffrey and a 74 yard catch and run by Deebo for a TD, both of which really showcased how well the 49ers block for each other. 

The defense had their struggles, but in the second half they came up with two big turnovers that effectively sealed the game. The first turnover was from a strip-sack by Omenihu deep in the 49ers half where it looked like the Seahawks would at least cut the deficit to just 3 points. The 49ers turned that into another TD and a 14 point lead. The Seahawks then started to panic and came up with some drive killing penalties on the next drive, giving the 49ers the ball back cheaply. When most people would have expected Shanahan to start milking the clock he instead went for the jugular with back to back passes to Deebo, the second of which he turned into the 74 yard catch and run TD and a three score lead. The defense then put the game away on the first play of the Seahawks next drive as Lenoir came away with the INT. 

This game really showcased how hard the 49ers offense is to defend when all the skill players are available and the QB is able to play efficient football as well as get the team out of bad situations. Excluding the final drive to end the game, the 49ers had nine possessions and scored on eight of them (4 TDs and 4 FGs). The three TDs to start the second half put significant scoreboard pressure on the Seahawks and forced them into errors which sealed the game. With Brock Purdy at QB we are finally seeing a 49ers team where it is the offense that is winning the games rather than needing the defense to do all the heavy lifting, though the defense has done a good job of being opportunistic in the second half of the year to seal the deal. We are also finally seeing what Shanahan's offense can look like when he has a QB that he trusts to throw the ball when teams are setting themselves to stop the run. 

Moving forward, hopefully the nerves we saw from Purdy in the first half are now out of his system after getting this game under his belt and the performance he put on in the second half. The defense also has some kinks to work out, though it is unlikely we see Charvarius Ward play as poorly as he did today again this season. More concerning was the inability to stop the run effectively in the first half and the struggles on third down, both of which are areas the team has generally performed well this season. 

Now we wait to see who the 49ers play next week!