The San Francisco 49ers ended up losing their Week 10 prime-time bout against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night, falling 27-24 in overtime after a back-and-forth fourth quarter between these two NFC West rivals.
And while the Niners now stand at 8-1 and have plenty of question marks and problems to clean up between now and their Week 11 bout against the Arizona Cardinals, they can at least feel some comfort knowing their defense gave Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and Co. plenty of fits throughout the game.
San Francisco's defense held Wilson to an 86.9 passer rating on the night, which is only the second time he's failed to crest the 100 passer-rating plateau this season. The other time was in Seattle's Week 7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
One of those key plays against Wilson came in the early stages of the fourth quarter with the 49ers trailing 21-10. Facing a 2nd-and-7, the Niners brought pressure and got to Wilson, half a sack being credited to cornerback K'Waun Williams and defensive tackle Arik Armstead. The ball came loose and was recovered by Seahawks offensive tackle Germain Ifedi, only he had the ball knocked loose again by linebacker Fred Warner.
Then, defensive tackle DeForest Buckner managed to scoop it up and run it in for a 12-yard defensive touchdown:
TWO forced fumbles leads to the @DeForestBuckner TOUCHDOWNNNNN. #GoNiners pic.twitter.com/pu5FOmv5Qo
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) November 12, 2019
"It was a critical situation," Buckner said of the play after the game. "We needed to get a big stop or get the ball back for the offense."
At that point in the game, the Seahawks had scored 21 unanswered points, stemming from key takeaways of their own. And all the momentum had shifted in Seattle's favor. But Buckner's play helped change that.
"Russell was wrapped up," Buckner continued. "The guys got to him, and suddenly I saw one of the linemen take the ball from him. And I was wondering, 'what the hell is this dude doing?'
"[Ifedi] tried to run with it, which was crazy. So I tried to wrap him up and get the ball from him. And I didn't know Fred punched it out. I thought I ripped it out. That hurt [jokingly]. But then I saw the opportunity to scoop it up and make a big play in the game and try to get some energy back for the team."
San Francisco then successfully converted the ensuing two-point attempt, which cut the deficit to 21-18. But ultimately, the Niners wouldn't get enough as the game moved along.
"I tried to help the team, but ultimately we came up short."