San Francisco tight end George Kittle ran to the far corner of the south end zone to celebrate his second walk-in touchdown of the game early in the third quarter, punctuating the moment with an emphatic spike of the football.
A few yards away, Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs and outside linebacker Bruce Irvin walked back toward the sideline together striking the same frozen pose, their arms raised, palms up, in a What Just Happened? gesture.
It was the second defensive breakdown for the Seahawks, both involving Kittle, and both becoming too much for the Seahawks to overcome in a 21-13 loss Thursday night that clinched the NFC West division crown for the 49ers.
For the second year in a row at Lumen Field, the Seahawks had no answer for Kittle, who had touchdown receptions of 28 and 54 yards.
That was less surprising than the production from the quarterback who threw those passes to Kittle. Third-string QB Brock Purdy, a rookie seventh-round pick making in his second NFL start, and first on the road, played an efficient and largely mistake-free game, completing 17 for 26 passes for 217 yards, a passer rating of 117.0, and those two TD throws to his star tight end.
“He’s definitely the most poised rookie I’ve ever had,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “He was poised all week, even being unsure if he’d be able to go (with an oblique injury). We didn’t have any options or choices. He got comfortable and better as the game went. It was pretty unbelievable.”
Purdy delivered the most unbelievable moment in the first quarter, on his first touchdown pass to Kittle, on a play that Shanahan appeared to have designed just for this precise moment.
It worked to perfection.
Purdy took the shotgun snap and faked a screen pass to his left. He quickly spun the other way and faked a screen pass to his right. Kittle — after starting the play in line as a blocker — released right down the middle of the field, all alone. Purdy threw to Kittle, who beat Diggs to the end zone, giving the Niners an early lead they would never relinquish.
“I’ve never seen, in my seven years playing (in the NFL), a play call like that,” Seahawks defensive lineman Quinton Jefferson said. “A double screen and Kittle in there blocking for the screen and then goes out on a route? That was a (expletive) great play. I tip my hat to (Purdy). Man, he came out and executed.”
The game, as Seahawks coach Pete Carroll assessed it, largely came down to three miscues from the Seahawks: the two touchdown passes to Kittle and a lost fumble by Seahawks running back Travis Homer late in the first half that gifted the 49ers their second touchdown.
“That’s the margin of victory in this league,” Jefferson said of the two big pass plays. “Explosives lead to points. It doesn’t matter what you do, (if) you let up two explosives like that it’s hard to win. We’ve got to tighten the (expletive) up.”
Just before Homer’s fumble, the Seahawks had a chance to capitalize on Purdy’s one real mistake Thursday, when he floated a pass down the middle of the field, right to Diggs. But the ball bounced off Diggs’ hands, falling incomplete.
“I should’ve just used my hands. That’s one of those ones I’ll be frustrated to think about until next week when I get another opportunity,” Diggs said.
The Seahawks had done an admirable job of bottling up Christian McCaffrey and the 49ers rushing attack for much of the game. But the 49ers broke through late, getting a 55-yard run from Jordan Mason in the closing moments to seal the win, sending the Seahawks (7-7) to their third straight loss at home.
“We’re at that point where we either go up or we go down. We’re at a crossroad,” Diggs said. “There’s three games left … and we know we’ve got to get better. And I know we won’t be divided on this team. We’ve got great players and great leadership and we know what we’ve got to do to win games.”