The San Francisco 49ers suffered a disheartening and hard-fought loss on Monday night against the division-rival Seattle Seahawks. Football fans watched across the nation as the overtime thriller became an instant regular-season classic.
49ers fans weren't too thrilled with the result. They watched their team fall 27-24. Former defensive lineman Justin Smith was among those disappointed by the outcome.
Smith, who joined KNBR on Tuesday morning, knows a little something about the rivalry between the two teams. He was there at its birth, and the height of the rivalry when it was Jim Harbaugh versus Pete Carroll and Richard Sherman was on the other side.
"The Cowboy" was asked if he developed a healthy distaste for the Seahawks.
"Oh absolutely," Smith responded on the "Murph and Mac" show. "I can't stand those guys. But I'll tell you what, just watching the game, man, that was a hard-fought game. Not having one of your best offensive weapons (in tight end George Kittle), the defense being able to contain (Russell) Wilson like they kind of did, I thought they did a heck of a job."
The loss isn't the end of the world for the 49ers, who still own the NFC's best record. The team just needs to make sure it doesn't have too many more missteps as the second half of the season continues.
Long-term, Smith believes San Francisco is gearing up to be a contender for years to come.
"I see a lot of similarities (between my teams and this one)," Smith said. "There for a couple of years, I thought we had the pieces. We just needed a couple of more, and we suffered through some losses.
"And then we were able to get Aldon (Smith) and NaVorro Bowman in the mix. Offensively, we added some pieces, and that's what they've done too.
"They've had (DeForest) Buckner and (Arik) Armstead, and added all these guys on defense and offense, getting (Jimmy) Garoppolo. Then you cap off a piece like (Nick) Bosa and some other guys, that's what you need to make a run.
"I see the same type of situation setting up for them the next few years as what happened with us."
You can listen to the entire interview with Smith below.