Kyle Shanahan got a win but didn’t get an apology.
The league admitted it erred when it ruled the Seattle Seahawks returner didn’t touch the ball on a fourth-quarter punt in the San Francisco 49ers’ 36-24 win Thursday night. One replay angle showed it struck his hand, but the officials didn’t get to see that view before rejecting Shanahan’s challenge. The decision not only allowed Seattle to maintain possession, it took a time out from the 49ers in what was shaping up to be a tight contest.
“You don’t get many apologies, but apologies aren’t that big of a deal,” Shanahan said Friday. “Once it happens, you got to move on with your life. I mean, apologies, don’t make it better. (I’m) just glad that it all worked out.”
Shanahan’s defense had its busiest game of the season — 78 snaps versus 65 for the offense. Still, the 49ers won the time-of-possession battle 33:03 to 26:57 in a game that stretched 3:10 in part because of the replay review.
Here’s how the individual snaps were divided:
Quarterback: Brock Purdy 65
The 49ers used play action more than they had this season, including on the 76-yard touchdown pass to Deebo Samuel Sr. in the first quarter. Purdy had used play action on only 17.6 percent of his dropbacks heading into Seattle, according to Pro Football Focus. On Thursday, it was 29 percent. Purdy has completed 72.2 percent of his passes for 453 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 132.9 when using play action this season. Without play action, he’s completed 63.8 percent for 1,176 yards, seven touchdowns, four interceptions and a 92.6 rating.
The middle of the field — taken away by some opponents this season — also was available. Purdy was 4-of-6 for 59 yards on medium-depth passes over the middle and was 5-of-8 for 48 yards on short throws over the middle.
The notion that Purdy’s passing totals are boosted by his receivers after the catch? It doesn’t stand up to scrutiny this season. According to Fantasy Points Data, Purdy ranks 31st in the percentage of passing yards that come after the catch at 33.7 percent. No. 1 in that category: Purdy’s Week 7 counterpart, Patrick Mahomes, who has seen 65.7 percent of his total come after the catch.
Running back: Kyle Juszczyk (fullback) 42, Jordan Mason 18, Isaac Guerendo 17, Patrick Taylor Jr. 16, Samuel 6
Mason suffered a sprained AC joint on a run in the second quarter. Shanahan said Mason is considered day to day heading into the Week 7 matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Meanwhile, Guerendo had the busiest outing of his career — 10 carries, 99 yards — while Taylor got not only his first carries of 2024 but his first offensive snaps. During his 76-yard run, Guerendo said he heard calls from the 49ers sideline to go down, which is why he slid at the Seattle 5-yard line. Those calls weren’t coming from Shanahan, who wanted him to score on the play.
Tackle or slide? Slide, said Isaac Guerendo after the game. “I kind of had it in my mind once I looked to the sideline and everybody was like, ‘Get down!’, so I had to make a business decision.” pic.twitter.com/cTMFpiC7J5
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) October 11, 2024
Wide receiver: Brandon Aiyuk 62, Samuel 47, Jauan Jennings 34, Chris Conley 6, Jacob Cowing 1
After the game, tackle Trent Williams joked he was worried Samuel was going to get caught by edge rusher Boye Mafe on his long touchdown catch and run. Mafe, after all, has excellent wheels, and the speed he reached on that play, 21.74 mph, was the fastest for a front seven defender in the last two seasons, according to Next Gen Stats.
Samuel, however, had too big a lead and reached 20.90 mph on the play. That was his fastest speed since Week 14 in 2019, corroborating what Samuel said in the summer: He’s in his best shape since his rookie season. He led all pass catchers Thursday with 102 receiving yards.
76 YARDS.
Deebo was speeding 😮💨
📺 #SFvsSEA on @NFLonPrime
NFL+ // https://t.co/KTh0i4oaLh pic.twitter.com/JiSCwm9qKH— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) October 11, 2024
Tight end: George Kittle 57, Eric Saubert 18, Jake Tonges 1
Kittle has become Purdy’s top red-zone target. He’s thrown five touchdowns to him near the goal line and two to Jennings. Every other 49ers receiver has zero. Per Fantasy Points Data, Purdy has a 140.9 passer rating when targeting Kittle. By contrast, his rating is 80 when targeting Aiyuk.
Offensive line: Jake Brendel 65, Dominick Puni 65, Colton McKivitz 65, Trent Williams 64, Aaron Banks 51, Spencer Burford 14, Jaylon Moore 1
Puni and Brendel combined to create the crease Guerendo used on his long run, and Puni emerged with a sterling 90.5 run-blocking grade from PFF. To put that in perspective, the next highest grade was Saubert’s 75 mark.
Pass blocking? The rookie wasn’t as sharp with two pressures allowed. However, the offensive line didn’t give up any sacks on Thursday.
QB pressures allowed:
- Banks 4
- Brendel 2
- Puni 2
- McKivitz 1
- Williams 1
- Saubert 1
Defensive line: Nick Bosa 68, Maliek Collins 59, Leonard Floyd 51, Kevin Givens 43, Sam Okuayinonu 32, Kalia Davis 31, Robert Beal Jr. 16, Evan Anderson 13
Bosa finished with 14 quarterback pressures, tying a career high he set against the Los Angeles Rams in 2022. The difference was that he had two sacks in that game, none in Thursday’s.
“It’s a finishing business,” Bosa said when asked about the near-sacks. “Especially when you’re me and you’re expected to finish. There’s a couple close ones there where it was almost ball’s out, game over and I’ve just got to keep going. It’s a long year and just look at the tape and try and finish those because that’s what players like me need to do.”
Meanwhile, Okuayinonu and Anderson, who popped in Week 4 against the New England Patriots, had another modest snaps/high impact outing. The 49ers used Anderson in goal-line situations and he emerged with two quarterback pressures.
QB pressures
- Bosa 14
- Floyd 6
- Collins 4
- Okuayinonu 3
- Anderson 2
- Givens 2
Linebacker: Fred Warner 78, De’Vondre Campbell Sr. 73, Dee Winters 12
Most of Winters’ snaps came as the third or strong side linebacker. There were five in the second half in which he replaced Campbell at weakside linebacker, a resumption of the succession play the 49ers started implementing in Week 2. Neither flourished on Thursday with Campbell finishing with two missed tackles.
Cornerback: Isaac Yiadom 77, Deommodore Lenoir 75, Renardo Green 71, Darrell Luter Jr. 3
Yiadom, Lenoir and Green stood out in Charvarius Ward’s absence, especially Green. The Seahawks targeted him 11 times and he gave up five catches for 57 yards along with his pivotal fourth-quarter interception. Geno Smith’s quarterback rating when targeting the rookie: 57.
It was notable that Luter, who’d been a healthy scratch until Thursday, got into the game ahead of Rock Ya-Sin, who has been a special teams-only player so far this season.
Safety: Ji’Ayir Brown 78, George Odum 58, Malik Mustapha 20
It was a bounce-back game for the 49ers’ safeties, who struggled in run defense four days earlier against the Arizona Cardinals. Odum was particularly effective in relieving Mustapha (ankle) in the second half and finishing with five tackles and two pass breakups.
Special teams: Odum 20, Tatum Bethune 19, Beal 19, Jalen Graham 19, Eric Saubert 17, Tongs 17, Jaylen Mahoney 15, Matthew Wright 14, Taylor 14, Conley 13, Winters 13, Luter 12, Mitch Wishnowsky 10, Taybor Pepper 10, Rock Ya-Sin 10, Guerendo 10, Okuayinonu 7, McKivitz 6, Puni 6, Moore 6, Nick Zakelj 6, Spencer Burford 6, Banks 5, Brown 5, Warner 5, Yiadom 5, Lenoir 5, Campbell 5, Collins 5, Givens 5, Green 4, Samuel 4, Cowing 4, Anderson 3, Bell 2, Bosa 1, Brendel 1, Floyd 1, Davis 1
Not every rookie emerged from the game looking good. Mahoney seemed to have an opportunity to hit Laviska Shenault early on the returner’s long touchdown but got frozen on his approach. Worse, Graham put a shot on Shenault but barely knocked him off stride.
Wright was 3 of 3 on field goals in his 49ers debut. But his kickoffs were well short of the mark. Only one of his attempts went into the end zone. The rest either landed at the goal line or short of the end zone, including the one that Shenault returned 97 yards. It landed at the 3-yard line.
Wright also suffered a dislocated shoulder making a tackle in the fourth quarter. A league source said that while an MRI on Wright didn’t come back entirely clean, there’s optimism it’s not a long-term issue.
Credit it where it’s due: Luter’s knee caused a Shenault fumble in the second quarter. Wishnowsky, meanwhile, had three punts downed inside the 20-yard line, including one at the 6 and another at the 3 in the second half.
(Photo of Nick Bosa pressuring Geno Smith: Joe Nicholson / Imagn Images)
