49ers Notebook: McCaffrey blames self for key interception; Smith-Njigba takes dig at Deommodore Lenoir; Kittle unbothered by Seahawks celebrating at Levi’s

The 49ers were on the dejected side after their 13-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday night, which cost them the chance to have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Understandably, there wasn't much for them to say about the game afterwards, but one common theme was confidence about their chances going forward despite the offense coming up empty against the Seahawks.

"I know the guys are furious after this, and we're going to use that fuel to play our next opponent," safety Malik Mustapha said.

That optimism was a silver lining in an otherwise glum set of postgame comments, which also included the topics we're going to cover in this version of 49ers Notebook. We'll dive into running back Christian McCaffrey taking the blame for what happened during one of the game's turning points, plus we'll hear tight end George Kittle's reaction to the Seahawks celebrating at Levi's Stadium. In addition, Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba gave a sly postgame response to 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir's wish to shadow him throughout Saturday's game. Let's get it started...

CMC blames himself

The beginning of the end for the 49ers on Saturday night came early in the fourth quarter when their best drive of the game was halted by an interception by linebacker Drake Thomas at the Seahawks' 3-yard line.

The 49ers had driven 64 yards in seven plays after giving up a field goal to the Seahawks that made the score 13-3. The drive was their best chance yet to get in the end zone, but that all ended when a pass from Purdy was tipped at the line of scrimmage and deflected off the hands of McCaffrey before getting picked off by Thomas.

Even though the ball had an altered trajectory after being tipped, McCaffrey took the blame on himself after the game for the pass being intercepted.

"It's a play that I have to make, absolutely have to make," McCaffrey said. "I expect nothing less but to make that play and it's completely on me."

Purdy offered support to McCaffrey, suggesting he shouldn't have thrown a pass that wound up getting tipped.

"It's a tough play," Purdy said. "The ball got tipped at the line, so it came out weird and he's trying to adjust. He beat his guy in man, and then all of a sudden the ball's just like coming in weird. It just didn't go our way and the other guy was right there to catch it. It was right in his lap. So, obviously, Christian's hard on himself with that. I'm hard on myself because it's like 'Dude, don't get the ball tipped at the line of scrimmage.' So it's just one of those things that sucks, but you know, Christian's a baller. He's going to live to play the next play and he's a Hall of Fame running back, so dude should walk out with his head up."

Either way, it was an easy interception for Thomas, who had the ball fall right into his hands.

"I saw the ball was kind of on his back shoulder and popped up," Thomas said. "It's a tough catch, but God is good and I came down with it."

Out of the shadows

Cornerback Deommodore Lenoir has never been one to hide his confidence, particularly in his ability to cover rival receivers. Earlier this week, Lenoir put that on display by telling reporters he wanted to shadow Seahawks receiver and NFL yardage leader Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

"Hopefully, I get to shadow JSN," Lenoir said this week. "I'm ready for this. I hope he ready ... Man-to-man coverage, me and him. That's what I want—me and him."

Smith-Njigba caught six passes for 84 yards against multiple 49ers defenders on Saturday, and after the game, he gave a bit of a dig at Lenoir when speaking to reporters.

"It's hard to respond back to all my fans but I knew that we were going to see him today and take care of business," Smith-Njigba said, per The Athletic.

Smith-Njigba's performance against the 49ers put him at 119 catches for 1,793 yards and ten touchdowns for the season. With Rams receiver Puka Nacua sitting behind Smith-Njigba at 1,639 yards on 119 catches with one game to go, it's a good bet that Smith-Njigba will finish the season as the NFL's leader in receiving yards.

Purdy cools off

Brock Purdy entered the game against the Seahawks as perhaps the NFL's hottest quarterback, having led the 49ers to a six-game winning streak while putting on a couple of the best performances of his career.

Purdy had five touchdowns in each of the two games before Saturday, but he came away with none on Saturday night while throwing for 127 yards and one interception on 19-of-27 passing. He gave credit to Seattle's defense after the game, while saying he and the rest of the offense needed to be better on third downs, where the 49ers converted just two of nine attempts.

"I mean, obviously they're a good defense, good front, did a good job with making us go through reads and checking the ball down," Purdy said. "For me, I just wish I could have been a little bit more efficient. They're going to make you work for the yards and make you have to convert on third down. And I just feel like third downs were definitely an area that I have to be better. Our offense as a whole, I feel like that's the part where if you got to win these kind of games, you've got to be good on third down. So, they did a good job."

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan wasn't down on Purdy's performance at all despite it being a fraction of what he showed in recent weeks.

"I'll see when I watch the tape, but I thought Brock battled out there," Shanahan said. "The one drive we got something going on where we turned it over there inside the five, but he made some big plays on that drive. I thought he battled throughout the game. I know he was under duress, which we had a feeling that would be the case going into the game. But none of us played good enough to win, but I'm not disappointed at all in Brock. I thought he battled like he always does and did some good things."

Seahawks celebrating at Levi's? No big deal

When one team wins a big game on a rival's home field, the chance to celebrate in front of the rival always serves as a bonus. The 49ers have had the opportunity to do that in Seattle in the past, but on Saturday night it was the Seahawks' turn, as they clinched both the NFC West and home field advantage.

It's never an enjoyable sight for the home team, but it's one that tight end George Kittle expected. And if the shoe was on the other foot and the 49ers had won in Seattle, he would probably have been one of the most visible players to celebrate.

"I would do the same s***," Kittle told a reporter after the game. "Yeah. I mean, what, they won the division, they got the one seed, they won in a rival stadium. Good for them."