Kyle Shanahan 'extremely disappointed' with 49ers' 12-9 loss to Seahawks

With another grey, rainy day in Seattle, and Pearl Jam's own Mike McCready playing the National Anthem, it looked as if the deck was already stacked against the San Francisco 49ers.

Seattle came out of the gate running nearly 30 plays and holding the ball for over 12 minutes in the first quarter. The 49ers struggled, running their fifth play near the end of the first quarter, and quarterback Brian Hoyer finishing the first quarter 1 of 3, for minus-one yard and an interception.


But the 49ers' defense, on the field for nearly 80 plays, kept the team close all game. It held Seattle to two field goals in the first quarter.

"I thought they (the defense) played a very good game," said head coach Kyle Shanahan after the game.

The teams traded punts in the second quarter, and on the Seahawks' fifth possession, quarterback Russell Wilson went deep on the left side, but the throw was incomplete. Safety Eric Reid, who was not involved in the play, went down with a lower left leg injury. He walked off under his own power and it was questionable whether he'd return.

After a Seattle punt, San Francisco got the ball back for its fifth possession. On the second play, running back Carlos Hyde broke through the line for a huge 61-yard run, the longest of his career. However, the 49ers could not capitalize and settled for a 40-yard field goal from Robbie Gould.

After holding Seattle to a three-and-out, the 49ers took over with fewer than two minutes left in the half. Hyde ripped another long run, this time 27 yards, to set up Gould's second successful field goal attempt of the day.


The teams went into their locker rooms tied at six points each.

The start of the second half was similar to the first: the 49ers offense failing to sustain drives, and the 49ers defense forcing Seattle to punt.

Eric Reid came back out to start the second half, but went down again mid-third quarter with a knee injury and did not return to the game.

"They were worried at first it could be something serious," said Shanahan. "The next time it happened, they pulled him out because they thought it was worse."

The 49ers' defense held strong, forcing Seattle to two back-to-back three-and-outs to close the third quarter. Seattle could take only 44 seconds off the clock late in the third and was forced to punt.


The 49ers mounted a drive to start the fourth quarter, sustained by two Matt Breida runs of 11 and 13 yards.

A critical drop by wide receiver Marquise Goodwin on second down and six yards killed the drive and the 49ers had to settle for another field goal from Robbie Gould.

"In this league, it comes down to get it done in the moment of truth," said Shanahan. "And when we got to that position in the fourth and we had a chance to win it, and we didn't on offense and we gave it back to them."

After eleven possessions, Seattle finally scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the game. This ultimately proved to seal the victory for Seattle.

With 7:01 left in the fourth quarter and needing a big drive, the 49ers took over at their own 20-yard line. They gained one yard on a quick out to wide receiver Trent Taylor in the left flat, and then Shanahan called a short slant. Hoyer hit tight end Garrett Celek, but it was well-short of the needed yardage for a first down.


Seattle ended the game on five straight runs, taking the clock down to the two-minute warning. With no timeouts left, Wilson took three kneel-downs and Seattle won the hard-fought match by a score of 12 to 9.

"We're never satisfied, we need to get better at every facet," said Shanahan. "We've had big challenges the last two weeks. We haven't played good enough. Regardless of how well you run the ball, you've got to throw it, too."

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