SANTA CLARA – For the past three weeks, the 49ers had an offense that was seemingly unstoppable.
Quarterback Brock Purdy had accounted for 10 touchdowns over the previous two games while the Red and Gold quietly positioned themselves for a playoff push.
The Seahawks, however, didn’t buy into the hype. Owners of a top-three run defense and a unit that produced 44 sacks through 16 games, Seattle simply was content to milk the clock as much as possible once it became clear that San Francisco’s offense was as effective as a paper towel in a hurricane.
That made it easy for Seattle coach Mike Macdonald to simplify his gameplan.
In particular, once the Hawks got the lead they were understandably able to play it safe with quarterback Sam Darnold, calling several plays that had the veteran QB making short, cautious and safe throws. He completed 20 of 26 attempts for 198 yards with a 97.9 rating. Nothing spectacular, but as a collective it was highly successful.
Darnold’s longest completion went for 24 yards. He had 11 completions of 10 yards or fewer and eight of five yards or fewer.,
It was the perfect example of a dink-and-dunk offense. Darnold and the Seahawks dinked just long enough until they were able to dunk into the end zone.
Once they got the lead, the game was basically a wrap.
San Francisco tight end George Kittle, who returned after sitting out Week 17 with an injury, said the 49ers had opportunities on offense to change the direction of the game but failed to make plays when given the chance.
“They brought a lot of pressure, which is what they do,” Kittle said. “They drop really deep, they force you to check the ball down, and they routed the ball really well. They also (have) a smart secondary. Nothing surprising. I wish we would’ve taken advantage of some of the situations, and we didn’t. That’s football.”
Regular-season football is vastly different than playoff football, so the 49ers have little time to self-evaluate and correct their mistakes.
There should be a lot to clean up, too.
Seattle’s offense more than doubled San Francisco’s (361-173) in total yards. The Seahawks also had a 23-9 advantage in first downs and averaged nearly 1.5 yards per play more than the 49ers.
Basically, Seattle put a muffler on the 49ers offense and kept it quiet for the majority of the night.
“That was key,” Seattle linebacker Ernest Jones IV said. “The 49ers have been scoring at will, they haven’t been punting. We know our style of play: ‘Let’s just go out there, play how we know how to play and let’s just see what happens.’ For us to come out there and hold them to three points, that’s huge.”
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