49ers demolished by better Seahawks but Purdy, Shanahan see the long game
There will be plenty of time to overreact, and it’s begun already if the first email to come my way in the wake of the 49ers’ 41-6 loss to Seattle Saturday night is any indication.
“FIRE Shanahan. FIRE Robert Saleh. FIRE John Lynch. This team has embarrassed the 49er Faithful.”
That’s only part of it, but you get the picture. Perspective is lost among a segment of the fan base after a 35-point beatdown in the NFL divisional playoffs.
Brock Purdy lost to Sam Darnold. Christian McCaffrey finally ran out of gas. Saleh’s makeshift defense gave up 34 points. The formerly much-improved special teams slumped at the end of the season, with Seattle getting off and running with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Rashid Shaheed.
Yet the 49ers still have Purdy. They’ve still got Kyle Shanahan, even if the loss wasn’t exactly his finest hour with a couple of sideline blowups and an ill-advised fourth-and-1 option play call that Kyle Juszczyk fumbled out of bounds to the short side of the field.
Purdy was doing his best to process the game at the postgame podium. He was composed as usual, but there was no reason for the 49ers to feel as lost as they did when they left everything they had on the field and lost 25-22 in overtime to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII.
The 49ers legitimately believed they were the best team that night. This time, they knew they weren’t, but were hoping to pull a fast one, win the NFC title and sneak in and host the Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium anyway.
“The character and the heart of this team was unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of,” Purdy said. “We’re going to regroup, get guys healthy and get back after it. So we’re excited for the future. It just sucks, because this loss is fresh in our minds.”
Purdy had nothing to apologize for against a Seattle defense that had him running for his life. He was 15 of 27 for 140 yards, lost a fumble and threw an interception. He took responsibility for anything that went wrong. The interception came when he threw behind tight end Luke Farrell — with George Kittle out with a torn hamstring and Jake Tonges out with a foot injury, he didn’t have much choice. Farrell barely made a move for the ball.
Not that Purdy would ever demean a teammate in public.
“I was just trying to figure out which way Luke was going to go,” Purdy said. “Honestly, I shouldn’t have thrown it. He got put in a tough situation and if anything I should have thrown the ball away. Should have lived to see another down.”
It’s one of the qualities that endear Purdy to his teammates. He’ll gladly throw himself under the bus even if he doesn’t deserve it. That’s what a leader does.
Make no mistake, Purdy is the 49ers’ future. It was true when he signed a contract extension that could pay him as much as $262 million, and it’s even more true today, given how he played after returning from a turf toe injury all the way up to the debacle in Seattle.
Who knows how many years the 49ers can get out of McCaffrey, Kittle or Trent Williams? They’ll all be one year older, with less tread on the tires. The first two will be back for sure. Williams wants to come back, although contractual matters could change things. If anything, it’s up to Shanahan to build an offense that is more Purdy-centric than it is McCaffrey-centric.
It means some help at wide receiver and the offensive line. The Purdy detractors will resurface to a degree in the face of such a one-sided loss. Here you have it, further evidence that Purdy is only as good as his supporting cast. Which is true, as it is for all quarterbacks.
That stuff has never bothered Purdy anyway, and he was undaunted in the face of such a total defeat. The 49ers had beaten Seattle once, lost a second time and were blown out a third time. They only scored 26 points in the three games. As much as things change year to year in the NFL, the Seahawks have the look of a team that’s going to be good for a while and the 49ers will have to play them twice a year at least.
Purdy gave credit where credit was due to a point, but he wasn’t about to concede the 49ers, even in their current state, weren’t good enough to have done more.
“You really have to play smart football, check the ball down, stay on the field, convert third downs,” Purdy said. “They’re the kind of defense that doesn’t give up any big shot plays. When you have one-on-ones you have to capitalize, because they’re going to play soft zone and make you reach. All of us, including myself, we’ve got to understand that we’re going against these guys and realize how important it is to stay on the field.”
The 49ers failed to convert three fourth downs. Gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown. Had two turnovers. Fell behind quickly and decisively in a hostile environment. If you wanted to write a primer on how to get blown out in the playoffs, the 49ers were the authors.
“No one played perfect,” Shanahan said. “No one coached great today. They got us pretty good but I thought Brock made a number of plays out there, but the second half got away from us.”
Bottom line is the 49ers accomplished more than anyone thought they could, considering all the well-documented losses, whether to injury or, in the case of Brandon Aiyuk, simply walking away when things weren’t to his liking.
“I feel like our backs were really against the wall all season with guys going down, but we always found a way to bounce back,” Purdy said. “Once we get to 100 percent and feel good about ourselves and learn, then we’ll be just fine.”
Unlike the last time the 49ers lost in the postseason, that should only take a few days. Against the Chiefs, the 49ers thought they were the better team. Against Seattle, they knew they weren’t. There’s actually a sense of accomplishment rather than a hangover.
An NFL team is all about the head coach and quarterback. The 49ers have both, even if they’ve had better days.