The San Francisco 49ers confidently beat division rival Seattle Seahawks early in the playoffs 41:23. After a tight first half, the Niners literally overtook the guests in the second round.
49ers vs. Seahawks: At a Glance
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Brock Purdy made history in his playoff debut with 3 touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown, although he started extremely nervously with a few wild throws.
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The Seahawks struggled to put pressure on the quarterback, giving him all the time in the world to pass. As the game progressed, Purdy made better and better use of it.
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After a fairly clean first half, the Niners decided the game defensively with a fumble recovery and an interception, after which they each scored touchdowns.
49ers vs. Seahawks: The Analysis
The first half can easily be split into two halves. In the first, the Niners produced one play after another as the visitors failed to get to the line of scrimmage. The Niners made it only ten points because quarterback Brock Purdy got off to a shaky start in his first playoff start – the big yards came mostly from running play around wide receiver Deebo Samuel and running back Christian McCaffrey, who hit his own touchdown with a 68-yard run on the second self-set drive.
Then the Seahawks woke up, who got more creative and quicker (no huddle) on 3rd down. They scored a key first down in the red zone with a direct hit on running back Kenneth Walker, then he completed it himself with a 7-yard outside run for the Seahawks’ first points.
A short time later, the Seahawks again held San Francisco with a basket, after which the game threatened to tip over. Geno Smith threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to DK Metcalf, which became unstoppable on an easy route from cornerback Charvarious Ward.
The Niners responded with a drive to the 28-yard line, from where they managed just one field goal at the break. The break didn’t last at 4:14, however, as after a firecracker kick and a scramble and slide from Smith, cornerback Jimmie Ward tackled him with the helmet, resulting in a 15-yard penalty that gave Seattle a second. brought him back into the field’s shooting zone. And Jason Myers thanked him with a 56-yard kick for Seattle’s 17:16 halftime lead.
49ers vs. Seahawks: Niners have a strong third quarter
However, momentum returned to the 49ers side after the break. They opened the second half with a drive that fell nearly 8 minutes behind and was capped by a QB sneak for Purdy’s touchdown.
The Seahawks were poised to respond in equally impressive fashion then, but on 3rd and long in the red zone, Charles Omenihu fired a tape sack at Smith which Nick Bosa captured. And after that, the home team didn’t waste much time and walked straight the other way. A deep shot on Jauan Jennings for 33 yards put San Francisco in position and after an impressive rush, Purdy finally found running back Elijah Mitchell wide open in the flat for a 7-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion made it 31-17 for the Niners with 14 minutes left in the final quarter.
Shortly after, Samuel capped it all off with a 74-yard catch-up touchdown. As usual, he was on a drag route and no defenders were there. Deommodore Lenoir’s subsequent interception only confirmed this impression.
With this success, it’s clear the Niners will have the home advantage as the No. 2 seed in the divisional round. They then play against the highest seed still active in the NFC, i.e. they receive either the Vikings (#3), Buccaneers (#4) or Cowboys (#4). 5).
NFL Wildcard Playoffs: San Francisco 49ers (13-4) vs. Seattle Seahawks (9-8)
Result: 41:23 (10:0, 6:17, 7:0, 18:6) BOXSCORE
49ers vs. Seahawks – the most important stats
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Metcalf’s 50-yard touchdown reception in the first half was his third touchdown catch for at least 50 yards in the playoffs. Apart from him, only Hall of Famers Randy Moss (3) and John Stallworth (4) have managed to do so.
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McCaffrey’s 68-yard streak was the third-longest in 49ers playoff history and the longest in the franchise since Roger Craig’s 80-yard streak in 1988.
- Brock Purdy may not have been perfect in this game, but he’s now the first rookie quarterback to complete 3 touchdown passes and 1 touchdown in his first playoff start. Likewise, he is the first rookie QB with 4 total touchdowns in a postseason game.
Star of the game: Deebo Samuel (wide receiver, 49ers)
Samuel (165 scrimmage yards, REC TD) set the tone early in the game. He led the way with his long runs at the start, then he excelled with his crossings and yards after the restart. With his 74-yard score, he put the lid on early and cleared any remaining doubts from the table. He was the Gp-To-Guy for a Purdy, who was growing increasingly confident in the game, also thanks to Samuel’s completions.
The flop of the match: Front Seven (Seahawks)
Purdy averaged 3.63 seconds to throw. It’s just an eternity in the NFL and highlights very clearly where the rub is with the Seahawks, who simply had no answer to the Niners’ offense. The initially nervous rookie QB found it easy for the initially nervous rookie QB to find his point guard as they consistently stuck to their base defense, didn’t blitz, and couldn’t individually handle the Niners-O- Lne anyway. To make matters worse, Seahawks defensemen were mostly unable to overcome blocks from the home team. This part of the team was completely dominated.
Analysis: 49ers vs. Seahawks – the tactics chart
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The 49ers frequently angered the Seahawks early in the game with rosters that included both Christian McCaffrey and wide receiver Deebo Samuel lined up in the backfield. At first, only Samuel was running with the ball.
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The Seahawks had big problems early in 3rd down, even though it was short. They later fixed those issues by switching to no huddles in situations, thus preventing the Niners from switching to their running staff.
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The Seahawks only flashed sporadically, giving Brock Purdy plenty of time to pass. While he didn’t always capitalize on this, it gave the Niners plenty of time to realize their hi-lo concepts with plenty of crossover routes against the Seahawks’ 2 coverages. The Seahawks certainly would have looked good here with more guts.
- Both teams blitzed very little, but overall the Niners were not only better individually than their Seahawks O-Line counterparts, they also knew how to create lags. Before the strip sack against Smith in the red zone, they set up about three rushers – Charles Omenihu was set up as an inside tackle, Samson Ebukam classic as a technical 5. Seattle had no answer to that on 3rd Down .
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