In order to find out where things went wrong for the 49ers' offense in their 37-27 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, it's important to go back to the very beginning.
The 49ers trailed the Seahawks just 13-7 at halftime before falling apart early in the third quarter en route to a 30-7 second-half deficit, which may make it seem like much of the damage took place well after the game's early possessions. But there were some developments early in the game when the score was still 0-0 that made the task at hand much more difficult for the 49ers once the Seahawks found their groove.
The 49ers' defense stood out early, holding the Seahawks to a three-and-out on the game's opening possession that set up the offense with the ball at its own 35-yard line. The offense responded with a drive into Seattle territory, where it eventually faced a third down at the Seahawks' 37. But its drive fell flat on that play when a direct snap to running back Jerick McKinnon was blown up by the Seahawks' defense for a three-yard loss.
The 49ers were forced to punt but were able to pin the Seahawks back at the one-yard line, which put the defense in an opportune spot. The defense stood its ground and forced a punt back to the offense, which took over at the Seattle 49-yard line.
But the offense missed another golden opportunity when quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was intercepted by former 49ers defensive back D.J. Reed inside the 20-yard line on a third-and-five call seven plays into its drive. The Seahawks were able to start establishing an offensive rhythm after the interception and drove the length of the field to take a 7-0 lead on a 46-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson to wide receiver DK Metcalf.
The 49ers offense understandably regretted the failure to capitalize off its first quarter chances, looking back on them after the fact as an early turning point in a subpar offensive effort that saw it score just seven points in its first three quarters against a defense that ranked last in the NFL coming into the game at 479 yards allowed per game.
"We missed out on some really easy opportunities," fullback Kyle Juszczyk said following the loss. "We kind of just shot ourselves in the foot there over the first couple of series, which is a shame because the defense was playing so well. We were giving them nothing to help."
The Seahawks defense certainly deserves its share of credit for coming up with a solid performance that will serve as a step in the right direction after a shaky start to the season. But its game plan, which involved bringing pressure via the blitz, was in itself a missed opportunity the 49ers weren't able to exploit.
"Usually when they bring a blitz it's pretty hit-or-miss," 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said. "It's going to be a good play for one team and a bad play for the other team. I thought we had a chance to get rid of it a couple times and they just got to us too fast. We didn't make them pay for it. We did a little bit there at the end, but obviously that was too late."
The Seahawks were even without one of their key components on defense in injured All-Pro safety Jamal Adams, who would have played a big role when their defense decided to bring pressure. But the absence of Adams didn't stop the Seahawks' defense from finding success with its game plan in the end.
"He's a huge part of their pressure plan," 49ers offensive tackle Trent Williams said of Adams. "So without him playing, I didn't think they would eat us up as much. But with the lack of pass rushers, I feel that was the only way they felt they could get pressure on the QB. So, there's no excuses. We've got to be better. With the blitzes they brought, we should have been able to pick them up. It's just the small things. It's a game of inches. Every other play, it was somebody who was off by an inch or two, and I think that played a huge part."
There may also have been a play call or two the 49ers would like to have back, such as the direct snap to McKinnon on third down. The play seemed like a good idea at the time to Shanahan, but the Seahawks were able to counter and prevent the 49ers from getting a chance to score.
"It's installed because it's a good play, just not versus zero," Shanahan said. "They got us in an all-out blitz. I liked the call there when I made it, hoping that we had two downs. I think it was third-and-seven or third-and-eight. We were out of field goal range. I thought that would at least get us into field goal range with a possibility to have a second play. But when you lose yards on it, then it was over. They didn't have a good look, Jet had no chance, they ended up zeroing us on it."
The 49ers went on to surrender four touchdown passes to Wilson while also committing a number of miscues along the way that contributed to the end result, so what happened early in the game was just one part of a larger picture that led to a frustrating loss. But even though the 49ers still had their chances to keep the game competitive after those first two possessions, it's easy to look back on those moments now as the types of missed opportunities a team needs to cash in on in order to come out of Seattle with a victory.
"I think the turnover inside the red zone, stuff like that, it's kind of hard to overcome, especially when you're going against a guy like Russell Wilson," Williams said. "Our defense did such a great job in the beginning of the game. I feel like they had their number. They were getting stops, flying around. As an offense, we just didn't complete our side of the deal by making them pay for good field position. We let them overcome some mistakes we should have made them pay for."