49ers Lose Kittle & Garoppolo in Loss to Seattle

Week 8 - Coming off an impressive two-game winning-streak and playing their most inspiring football yet this year, the San Francisco 49ers (4-3) appeared to finally begin hitting their stride following the sluggish 2-3 start that had many pundits declaring their season as good as over. But the one thing that has deprived the Niners in the first half of the season -- injuries, would rear its ugly head once again. Entering their meeting with the first-place Seattle Seahawks (5-1), the 49ers looked to continue their winning ways against their division rivals as they took a trip to CenturyLink Field for the first time since the thrilling Week 17 victory that secured both a division title and the number one overall seed in the NFC just a season ago. And with Niners QB Jimmy Garoppolo boasting a record of 5-0 on the road versus NFC West opponents throughout his career, San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan had to have liked his quarterback's chances of improving that record heading into Sunday's game, but things would take a turn as his depleted team suffered yet another blow on the injury front. 

Prior to the trio of injuries that would deplete the Niners offense even further, San Francisco came out swinging on defense and appeared to be thirsty for blood as they forced the Seattle offense to punt on each of their first two possessions. But an interception by Garoppolo on a pass behind his intended target, would setup their opponent and give Seattle new life on offense. The Seahawks would use that new life and turn it into a 46-yard touchdown by receiver D.K. Metcalf. The early score on the final play of the first quarter would be just the start to a busy afternoon by the second-year receiver that has quickly become one of Russell Wilson's favorite and most reliable targets this season. After a missed point-after by Seattle, the 49ers responded with a touchdown-scoring drive of their own that spanned 14-plays and over eight minutes long as rookie running back JaMycal Hasty scored his first career touchdown from 1-yard out to give his team a 7-6 lead. Not to be outdone, Wilson and the Seattle offense would march down the field and score on a second Metcalf touchdown in consecutive drives. With San Francisco trailing 13-7 at the half, the 49ers would find themselves in hot water and history against them as Seattle entered the game having won 59 out of their last 60 home games when leading by 4 or more points at the half. A stat that would not bode well for any visiting team, much less for a 49ers team that has struggled so mightily over the years at CenturyLink Field. 

Receiving the ball at the half and hoping to get off to a better start than they did in the first, the Niners would witness things go from bad to worse as they were held to a consecutive three and outs and were forced to punt as Seattle began to have their way. Scoring on a 2-yard touchdown by rookie running back DeeJay Dallas, the first of his career, Seattle would string together 17 unanswered-points as 49ers return man Dante Pettis fumbled on the ensuing kick return. Adding insult to injury, Jimmy Garoppolo would fall victim to a high-ankle sprain that would force him to leave the game, the same injury that caused him to miss two and a half weeks earlier in the year. One drive later, the 49ers would lose their Pro-Bowl tight-end George Kittle to a foot injury. With both Garoppolo and Kittle sidelined and off to the locker room, the 49ers would string together three consecutive touchdown-scoring drives in the fourth quarter with backup QB Nick Mullens under center. The first of which on a 1-yard score by running back Jerick McKinnon and the next two on touchdown passes from Mullens to Ross Dwelley and Brandon Aiyuk, respectively. Unfortunately, an unsuccessful on-side kick would allow Seattle to setup shop and score one final touchdown to put the game out of reach as the 49ers dug too big a hole to climb out of and lost 37-27. 

Russell Wilson who has been the league MVP up to this point and entered Sunday's game with 22 passing touchdowns on the year, tied for the most all-time through the first six games (Peyton Manning - 2013), added four more TD's and 261 yards in the win. Meanwhile, Garoppolo finished with zero touchdowns, one interception and 84 yards passing, to Mullens' pair of touchdowns and 238 yards in only one quarter. Seattle's D.K. Metcalf led all receivers with 12 receptions, 161 yards and 2 touchdowns. 49ers rookie receiver Brandon Aiyuk logged another nice game after hauling in 8 catches for 91 yards receiving and a touchdown. Neither team got much from their run game as DeeJay Dallas led all rushers with 41 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries. San Francisco saw JaMycal Hasty tote the ball 12 times for 29 yards and a touchdown and got another 20 yards on three carries from Tevin Coleman who returned from a 5-game absence due to a knee injury before having to depart Sunday's game with another knee injury. 

Week 9 Preview - The 49ers will have a shortened week to get things back on track as they return home to welcome the Green Bay Packers to Levi's Stadium on Thursday Night Football. A rematch of last year's NFC Championship, this one will feature a totally different 49ers team as they continue to deal with the injury bug after recently learning that both Kittle and Garoppolo will be out indefinitely. But that won't stop Aaron Rodgers and company from attempting to avenge two blowout losses at Levi's a season ago, including one that allowed San Francisco to punch their ticket to last year's Super Bowl. Having started the season 4-0, the Packers find themselves at 5-2 following losses in two of their last three games, including a loss at home to the lowly division rival Minnesota Vikings. For San Francisco, backup QB Nick Mullens will be thrusted into the starting role and will one again be given a chance to shine and prove himself in Jimmy G's absence. Something he did quite well in Weeks 2 and 3 and again in the fourth quarter on Sunday when the Garoppolo injury had occurred. 

UPDATE: Due to Covid-19 protocols, the 49ers will be without wide-receiver Kendrick Bourne in their Thursday Night game against Green Bay, as Bourne was initially reported to have tested positive for the Corona Virus. Teammates Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and Trent Williams were also ruled out after coming into close contact with Bourne around the time of his positive test. However, it was later discovered that Bourne's positive test was a false positive, meaning he didn't actually contract the virus. Unfortunately, he along with Samuel, Aiyuk and Williams will still be ruled out with little to no time to prep for gameday, meaning San Francisco will be even more shorthanded come kickoff. 

Noteworthy - The lone transaction made by the 49ers before the November 3rd trade deadline, was a deal that sent linebacker Kwon Alexander and his expensive contract to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for linebacker Kiko Alonso and a conditional fifth-round pick. While the often injured Alexander served as the emotional leader and provided an energy boost to the 49ers defense during the team's Super Bowl run a season ago, his hefty contract and unreliable health were enough to will Niners GM John Lynch to ship him off once they were able to find a trade partner as the Saints take the remainder of his four-year, $54 Million dollar contract off of San Francisco's hands. Having missed the last three games, the 26-year old Alexander is nursing a high ankle sprain that New Orleans is confident he'll be able to recover from relatively quickly as they battle it out in the NFC South with their rival and Alexander's former team -- the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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