The Seattle Seahawks traveled to Santa Clara for a Veteran’s Day matchup with the undefeated San Francisco 49ers. This was a battle that resulted in the end of San Francisco’s quest to be undefeated.
The 49ers started with possession of the ball and nearly turned the ball over, but a defensive holding penalty on Seattle kept the drive alive. After 13 plays, rookie kicker Chase McLaughlin put the first points on the board on a 43-yard field goal.
The Seahawks didn’t produce any points in their opening drive as Russell Wilson was sacked on third down, but the 49ers did respond for a touchdown after Jimmy Garoppolo connected with Rookie Deebo Samuel for 30 yards on the first play and ended the drive with a 10-yard pass to Kendrick Bourne for the score. The first quarter ended with San Francisco on top 10-0.
The second quarter was scoreless until the last three minutes. Garoppolo was sacked and he fumbled, and Jadeveon Clowney recovered the ball and returned it for a 10-yard touchdown, closing the gap to 10-7 with just under three minutes to play in the half. In Seattle’s last possession, Jaquiski Tartt forced DK Metcalf to fumble and Tartt recovered the ball in the end zone, giving the 49ers possession to end the first half.
San Francisco is the only team in the NFL to not allow any points in the last two minutes of the first half and they kept the lead at halftime, 10-7. San Francisco kept possession of the ball for almost nine minutes longer than Seattle and nearly doubled the Seahawks 20 drives for 89 yards while San Francisco recorded 37 plays for 171 yards.
"I'll take that." @Quaski29, probably. #GoNiners pic.twitter.com/lvlbvW71oH
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) November 12, 2019
Seattle started the second half with possession of the ball but Rashaad Penny fumbled, giving Deforest Buckner the opportunity to recover it and give San Francisco an early possession. The 49ers didn’t capitalize during their opening drive and the next Seahawks possession ended with another sack on Wilson, this time by Fred Warner.
Seattle came back and intercepted a pass intended for Bourne; Quandre Diggs took it for a 44-yard return. Seattle capitalized on the interception by answering with a touchdown after Wilson connected with Jacob Hollister for nine yards to take the 14-10 lead. Seattle again forced a fumble with a recovery on the next San Francisco possession and again capitalized when Chris Carson took the ball for another touchdown.
21-10 was the score going into the final quarter.
The 49ers forced a turnover in the Seahawks’ first drive and sacked Wilson, who fumbled the ball. Seattle recovered it but fumbled again and Buckner recovered the ball and took it 12 yards for a touchdown. Garoppolo connected with Bourne on the two-point conversion attempt which brought the 49ers within three points of tying the game … which they did in their next possession when McLaughlin put it through the posts again, this time from 39 yards.
Seattle converted two crucial third downs before the two-minute warning timeout and ended the possession with a 46-yard field goal kick by Jason Myers that gave Seattle the lead, 24-21. San Francisco got the ball back and with six seconds left in the game, it all was on the shoulders of the rookie kicker, and he made his career-long 47-yard field goal to tie the game and force overtime.
The Seahawks won the coin toss and chose to receive the ball first in the overtime period, but the possession was ended with a red zone interception by Dre Greenlaw to give the ball back to the 49ers for the chance to win with any score on the board.
McLaughlin fell short of the field goal this time and went wide left on the 47-yard attempt, giving each team one more possession and on the second Seattle possession after the missed field goal, Myers kicked the 42-yard field goal to give the Seahawks the overtime victory against the 49ers, 27-24.
In an exciting, high-energy game, Russell Wilson and recently-acquired players such as Jadeveon Clowney and Josh Gordon were all essential to Seattle’s victory over San Francisco. Rookies Deebo Samuel and kicker Chase McLaughlin were solid performers for the 49ers with Samuel leading the team with six receptions and 112 yards. In the end, it was the field goal kickers versus each other, as Garoppolo seemed to choke when it was under two minutes of play and he was rushed, while Wilson seemed able to pull off miracle plays when he needed to make them. This was the first overtime Monday Night Football game since 1983 and it will probably go down as the game of the year this season.
The Seahawks face the Eagles in Sunday Night Football next week while the 49ers will host the Cardinals.
We laughed, we cried, we forgot to breathe, and at the end, the @seahawks knocked off the unbeaten Niners. https://t.co/NJrkB156jK
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) November 12, 2019
