SANTA CLARA – And then reality set in. Nemesis Seattle reminded the 49ers who they really are Sunday at Levi’s – they remain a frightfully young, injured-ravaged unit with new schemes still spinning in players’ heads. While the Seahawks remain a proud, entrenched playoff-caliber team led by the best duel threat quarterback of his era (Russell Wilson).
Seattle humbled the upstart 49ers 24-13, notching the Seahawks’s ninth straight victory, including a playoff win, over San Francisco.
However the real drama for the 49ers came at game’s end, when Seattle defensive end Michael Bennett crashed into rookie quarterback C.J. Beathard’s left knee, causing shooting pain to fire into his hip. Beathard was yelling in pain after the hit and after several moments on the turf, he limped off the field.
Replacement Jimmy Garoppolo then steered the team into the end zone, finding Louis Murphy for a 10-yard touchdown pass as time expired.
Coach Kyle Shanahan said he wait on Beathard health report and see how the quarterbacks perform in practice before making a decision on who will start Sunday in Chicago.
“We’ll work with (Garoppolo) Monday and Tuesday and then put a game plan together and see what we decide on Wednesday,” Shanahan said.
As for the game, the better team took control. And of course, quarterback Russell Wilson, who accounts for a league-high 85 percent of their offense, kept unspooling his magic. Wilson consistently shed sack attempts in the pocket to keep plays alive and drives churning.
Seattle killed the two-week good-feeling vide the 49ers felt after beating the Giants before the bye week.
The 49ers made it competitive for a time when they pounded the Seahawks with their running game on the first drive of the second half. Carlos Hyde carried the load with six rushes for 38 yards, a rare run-dominated march from Shanahan.
But the 49ers defense finally buckled after a brilliant first half when the Seahawks got the ball back. The 49ers couldn’t prevent the big play, with Wilson throwing in three big chucks: A 23-yarder to Doug Baldwin, a 24-yarder to Tanner McEvoy and then a 17-yard touchdown pass to tight end Nick Varnett for the score. Seattle took a 14-6 lead at that point and never looked back.
The 49ers played competitively in the first half, despite a slow start. It’s typically the Seahawks who start sluggishly, but it was the 49ers who survived a scoreless first quarter, in which Beathard threw for 5 yards Wilson amassed 52 passing yards. The 49ers were helped by a missed 48-yard Blair Walsh field goal.
The 49ers’ defense kept the team close, particularly rookie cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, who broke up two passes, including one in the end zone.
“I thought our defense seemed to play very well,” Shanahan said. “They gave us a chance to win this game, just like they did in week 2 (in Seattle) and it seemed like they were around (Wilson) a lot, but as always Russell makes some pretty good plays.”
Seattle scored on the first turnover of the game, a twisting interception of a second-quarter pass by linebacker Bobby Wagner. He stripped rookie wide receiver Trent Taylor of the ball while Taylor was trying to secure the catch. It was a tremendous play by Wagner in what’s becoming a Hall of Fame career. Meanwhile, Taylor, who was playing for the first time since breaking his ribs in Arizona, seems overwhelmed by the NFL game at times.
Wagner made his play on the 49ers’ 16, and two plays later, Russell Wilson scampered into the end zone untouched. The 49ers were fooled by the read-option, with rookie defensive end Solomon Thomas pinching down on the fake handoff, and Wilson scoring easily.
On offense, the 49ers couldn’t hold back Seattle’s pass-rushing onslaught, with Beathard throwing away four of his first eight passes because of pressure. The Seahawks completely smothered him on his attempts to fake a handoff and then rollout.
Beathard threw another incompletion when he thought Marquise Goodwin was going deep and instead stopped in the middle of the field.
The 49ers defense came up with repeated stops and they kept Russell Wilson contained throughout the first half, holding him to 8 for 19 passing for 80 yards and an interception. The only time Seattle scored was after the Wagner interception, which was no fault of Beathard’s.
Beathard had similar stats to Wilson until the final 49ers’ drive of the first half when he completed all
four of his passes for 49 yards and he also scrambled for additional 5 yards. His exploits set kicker Robbie Gould up for a 38-yard field goal and the only points for the 49ers’ first half. It was also the longest scoring drive of the game at that point: seven plays, 47 yards.
In the end, Beathard completed 22 of 38 passes for 201 yards no touchdowns, an interception and a 61.4 passer rating.
