Lucky 49ers survive Seahawks in season opener

It wasn't exactly a Hail Mary in the final seconds, but it was as close as it could get to winning on a prayer for the San Francisco 49ers.

Brock Purdy's desperation off balanced throw from the right side of the field was magically pulled away from Seattle Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen by backup tight end Jake Tonges for a four-yard touchdown with 1:34 left in the fourth quarter. It proved to be the game winning touchdown in a 17-13 win for the 49ers over their division rival on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Lumen Field.

“I caught it and looked down at my feet to make sure I was in bounds,” Tonges said. “And I kind of looked around for some flags. And it was silent, you know, because we’re on the road. I think it was Russell Gage — someone was like, ‘You scored! You scored!’”

Let's take away the positives for San Francisco as they have started the season 1-0 in three-consecutive seasons for the first time since the 2014-16 season and are 5-4 in Week 1 games under head coach Kyle Shanahan.

The biggest was seeing a "healthy" Christian McCaffery on the field as their starting running back. The Faithful and all fantasy football owners who took McCaffery with their first pick in their drafts all received a scare this past Thursday when Run CMC was listed as questionable on the injury report with a calf injury. If you remember before last season McCaffery was listed with the same calf injury designation that turned out to be an Achilles issue that kept him out of the lineup for the majority of the season and was a key reason why the 49ers finished 6-11 in 2024.

McCaffery looked everything like the superstar running back he has been in the past with 31 touches (22 rushes and nine receptions) for 143 all-purpose yards. McCaffery showed bursts at times which included a 13-yard rush, which was his longest carry of the game.

The 49ers front seven: They dominated the trenches for the majority of the game as they held Seattle's two-headed rushing attack of Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet to a combined 67 yards of rushing. Defensive end Nick Bosa looked in pre-season form as he made life hell for quarterback Sam Darnold, who took over as the starter in his first season in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, it was Bosa who secured the victory for San Francisco when his bull rush knocked Seahawks tackle Abraham Lucas into Darnold causing the infamous fumble that Bosa was able to pounce on with 42 seconds left.

“It wasn’t the best coverage by our group,” linebacker Fred Warner said, “but thank God for Bosa. That was major. To find a way to win in the division in Week 1 is major.”

Seattle was driving and had second down on the 49ers nine-yard after Jaxon Smith-Njigba beat cornerback Renardo Green down the left sideline for a 40-yard catch earlier in the drive that set up the Seahawks at the 14-yard line. If not for Bosa's heroics, the 49ers would have left the hostile environment known for their "12th man" with a gut-wrenching loss.

Overall, the 49ers defense made their former quarterback Darnold look below average as they sacked him four times and limited his production as he finished just 16 of 23 for 150 yards with no touchdowns and a low QB rating of 56.1.

The Purdy-Ricky Pearsall connection. These two have looked good since the start of training camp and in a short amount of time have created a good chemistry with each other. With Kittle out of the game, Jauan Jennings slowed by injury and no Brandon Aiyuk for the foreseeable future, Pearsall came up with two clutch catches late in the game, including the 45-yarder down the left sideline that set up the game winning drive at the Seahawks 22-yard line with 2:38 remaining. Purdy pumped fake on the play before launching a perfect pass in stride to Pearsall who beat his coverage down the field. Pearsall led the 49ers in receiving with four catches for 108 yards.

Now let's look at the negatives that stood out for San Francisco.

The biggest was the hamstring injury to starting tight end George Kittle. Kittle who caught the opening touchdown, left the game in the first quarter after straining his hamstring as Purdy was left with one less target to throw to for the rest of the game. An MRI will be taken later on this afternoon to determine the severity of the injury. It was later reported that Kittle will be out of action for three to five weeks.

As I mentioned the Purdy to Pearsall connection was good late in the game, it wasn't great overall. Purdy forced the ball twice to Pearsall that resulted in two interceptions for the quarterback that was recently rewarded with a five-year $265 million dollar extension this past offseason. Both instances were bad decisions that Purdy needs to learn from going forward if the 49ers passing attack wants to improve. Purdy finished 26 of 35 for 277 yards to go along with his two TD's and two INT's. He was sacked once and finished with 80.4 QB rating.

During Monday's press conference, Shanahan also revealed that Purdy suffered an injury to his shoulder and his toe during the game. The toe injury appears to be the more serious of the two injuries that could keep Purdy sidelined this Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.

While the 49ers front seven looked good, their young secondary did not. Green was burned throughout the game by Smith-Njigba on deep routes. Returning defensive coordinator Robert Saleh never made adjustments to double team Smith-Njigba and give Green the help he needed by having a safety cheat over to the side where Smith-Njigba lined up. It became apparent that Darnold's favorite and pretty much only target in the second half was Smith-Njigba who finished the game with nine catches for 124 yards to lead all wide receivers.

The 49ers offensive line did not have a great game inside the trenches. Trent Williams had a holding call on a play that was brought back. Overall, as a whole they weren't able to dominate Seattle's front seven, which played well throughout the game forcing multiple pressures on Purdy. Out of the 31 scripted runs between McCaffery and new addition Brian Robinson Jr., most of them were for minimal gain. San Francisco had a tough time getting McCaffery going, usually when he rushes for more than 20 times in a game he ends up with over 100 yards.

Speaking of McCaffery, I believe he could've been utilized even more with a few screen passes scripted for him. Yes, I'm being nit-picky here as he led the 49ers with nine catches, but without Kittle in the game, the offense was stagnant at times, and the score shouldn't have been as close it was with the Tonges prayer needed to win the game. By the way Tonges, came into the game without a catch in the NFL. He finished with three for 15 yards but every one of those catches were huge for San Francisco's struggling offense.

Kicker Jake Moody missing a chip shot field goal that doinked off of the post. Moody also had a second field goal blocked but that wasn't his fault. Has Moody lost confidence in himself? More importantly has Shanahan and the rest of the 49ers brass still have confidence in their kicker they used a third-round draft pick two years ago to get. Will there be an audition this week for a new kicker?

The good news for San Francisco is they were blessed with one of the easiest schedules this season. Next up is the New Orleans, a team that lost its opener 20-13 to the Arizona Cardinals down in Cajun country. The Saints have chosen Spencer Rattler as their starting quarterback after Derek Carr was forced to retire due a degenerative shoulder injury. Bosa, Warner and the defense should feast on Rattler's inexperience. They only need to worry about stopping running back Alvin Kamara who was the only offensive bright spot in the game against the Cardinals.

A win is a win, and they aren't always going to be pretty. San Francisco can look back at escaping the Space Needle by their skin of their teeth with a gritty, confidence building victory as they continue their road trip to start the season.

“It was a grind of a game,” Bosa said, “a lot of ups and downs, and they tested us in a lot of ways. It was really good to end it with the win, and the fact that I was able to help is always great.”

San Francisco takes on the New Orleans Saints on Sunday September 14 at 10:00am from the Caesars Superdome. The game's broadcast will be on FOX.