49ers Win the West on Goal-line Stop vs Seattle

Week 17 - Entering Week 10 of the 2019 NFL season a perfect 8-0, the San Francisco 49ers welcomed into town their division foe and arch nemesis Seattle Seahawks who spoiled the party and handed Kyle Shanahan's team their first loss of the season in an overtime thriller. With Seattle getting the better of San Francisco over the last few years, the (12-3) 49ers would get a chance to exact revenge over Pete Carroll's (11-4) Seahawks team with a win that would clinch a first-round BYE and number one seed in the NFC. But as the Niners know as well as anybody, Seattle isn't exactly the easiest place to come out victorious unless you're the home team of course. In what would be an NFC West Championship between two bitter rivals, the game that was flexed into Sunday Night Football, would be a fitting end to what's been one of the most heated rivalries of the last 10 years between the 49ers and Seahawks, putting a bow on the last game of the decade in the NFL's 100th season.

Having not won in Seattle since 2011, Kyle Shanahan's 49ers team would still enter the game as 3-point favorites before kickoff. Through the first half, the 49ers looked like shoo-ins to finally get off the schneid up north as San Francisco dominated through the first two quarters on both sides of the ball. Coming off NFC Special-Teams Player of the Week honors for his game-winning heroics against the Rams the previous week, 49ers kicker Robbie Gould would kick things off with a 47-yard field goal on the team's first offensive possession to put San Francisco ahead early on. No receiver on Sunday night would have a bigger game than 49ers rookie Deebo Samuel who scored the lone touchdown of the first half not through the air, but on the ground. Faking a handoff to the running back, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo tossed the ball in the backfield to Samuel who spun his way down the sideline and into the end zone for the 30-yard touchdown. Leading 10-0 at the start of the second quarter, the 49ers would again add to their lead with a second Robbie Gould field goal. Seattle's best-looking drive of the half would go up in flames when a 4th & 1 attempt was stuffed at the line by Niners rookie sensation Nick Bosa, causing the turnover on downs with less than a minute remaining. Having only allowed 3-points in the final two minutes of the first half all season long, the stout 49er defense once again held their ground before heading to the locker room.

After a quiet first half on offense much like in their first meeting against the Niners on Monday night, the Seahawks opened the second half on another level, scoring touchdowns on each of their first three drives of the second half. Unfortunately for them, San Francisco would answer two of those scores with a pair of touchdowns of their own. Following Seattle's first TD -- a 14-yard strike from QB Russell Wilson to receiver Tyler Lockett, 49ers running back Raheem Mostert responded with a score from 2-yards out. Orchestrating the longest drive of the game for either team, Wilson and the Seattle offense chewed up 8-minutes and 30-seconds while marching 75-yards over a 14-play drive that ended with a leaping touchdown at the goal-line from running back Marshawn Lynch. Playing his first down of NFL football in 441 days, Lynch would suit up in a Seattle uniform for the first time since the 2015 season after spending his previous two seasons with the Raiders before taking a break all of last year. With 5:51 remaining in the 4th quarter, the 49ers would take a 26-14 lead after Mostert's second rushing touchdown in as many drives. Hoping it would be the dagger, the game would be far from over as Russell Wilson continued to show why he's among the top candidates for league MVP.

In what would be a forgetful night in coverage for 49ers cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, the former third round pick in his third NFL season, was beat constantly in the secondary and allowed both of Seattle's touchdowns thru the air. The second of which, a 14-yard pass to rookie D.K. Metcalf, brought the Seahawks within five points with less than 4 minutes to play. And with San Francisco forced to punt following a three and out, Seattle would get one final chance and would have just under two and a half minutes to pull off the comeback. For San Francisco, the defense which has been among the league's best but has also had its fair share of close calls, would once again be called upon to win them the game. With the division on the line, the two teams would be locked in for one of the more wild final minutes to an NFL game this season. Marching down to the 12 yard-line, the Seattle offense would face a 4th and 10 that they would convert on a clutch reception by rookie receiver John Ursua who's one and only grab of the night gained his team the much needed first down. Out of timeouts and with the clock running, Wilson and company were in panic mode when one of their own linemen was slow to get back to the line to hike and spike the ball to stop the clock.

With the ball at the 1-yard line, the table was set for a story line fit for a Hollywood script when Marshawn Lynch grabbed his helmet and hurried to the line to set up for what figured to be a game-winning touchdown. But the storybook ending never materialized as "Beast Mode" was held in check and making matters worse, the Seahawks failed to snap the ball in time and were flagged for a delay of game penalty. Incomplete passes on the next two downs would set up a do or die 4th and goal from the 5 yard-line. Dropping back to pass, Wilson would fire a strike to tight-end Jacob Hollister who was stopped at the goal-line by 49ers rookie linebacker Dre Greenlaw who kept the receiver out of the end zone for the game-winning tackle. After losing a game to the Atlanta Falcons just two weeks earlier in the same exact fashion, the 49er defense flipped the script and held their ground as the team stormed the field and celebrated the goal-line stand that clinched them both a division championship and a No. 1 seed for the first time since 1997 as San Francisco prevailed, 26-21. It would be a long time coming for the duo of coach Shanahan and general manager John Lynch who were each brought in on six-year contracts at the same time three seasons ago and promised to right the ship and get this proud organization back to their glory days.

When his career is all said and done, San Francisco's George Kittle will have set the bar pretty high for future 49er tight-ends. Kittle who missed the first meeting between the two teams, made his presence felt early and often in the rematch as he made several key blocks in the run game and hauled in 7 receptions for 86 yards to put him over the 1,000 yard mark for the season. Just a year after becoming the first 49ers tight-end in franchise history to record 1,000 yards receiving during his record-setting season of 1,377 yards, the most ever by a tight-end in NFL history, Kittle becomes the first 49er to do it in back-to-back seasons. But it was receiver Deebo Samuel who stole the show for the San Francisco offense as he caught five passes for 102 yards, while also carrying the ball twice for 33 yards and a touchdown. Raheem Mostert led all Niners with 57 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries, giving him six consecutive games with a rushing TD which ties him for the most in 49er history in a single season. With Seattle's Russell Wilson entering Sunday night with a perfect 8-0 record in his career at home against the Niners, San Francisco finally ended their skid when they needed it most, all thanks to the stellar play by their own QB. Finishing 18 for 22 and throwing for 285 yards in his first ever visit to Seattle, Jimmy Garoppolo once again proved unfazed by the hostile environment on his way to an impressive passer rating of 118.8. And in his first full year at the helm of the Niners, Jimmy G finishes with 3,978 passing yards, the 4th most in franchise history, while joining Hall of Famers Steve Young and Joe Montana as the only 49er QB's to win 13 games and have a 100+ passer rating in a single season.

With the NFC's No. 1 seed clinched, the importance of a first-round BYE cannot be overstated as 26 of 34 teams to make the Super Bowl had a BYE, including teams in the last six Super Bowl's. And in the team's playoff history, San Francisco is 20-9 all-time when hosting a playoff game compared to just 5-10 when playing on the road. Having now played in five straight games decided by one-score, these quasi playoff games, though tiresome, could certainly pay dividends down the stretch for an otherwise inexperienced roster heading into the playoffs as Kyle Shanahan's team looks to take a week off and recover for the first time since their Week 4 BYE, while awaiting their next foe in the NFC as the Eagles host the Seahawks and the Saints host the Vikings.

Honorable mention - During the first meeting between these two teams, 49ers tackle Joe Staley was making a return after coming off a six-game absence following a broken leg suffered in Week 2. In what would go down as one of the worst games of his career as he was constantly beat by Seattle defensive-end Jadeveon Clowney who feasted on the 49ers o-line and had a monster night, Staley had a chance to get even with Clowney in the rematch. Not allowing a single sack all night, Staley would do just that, redeeming himself with arguably his best performance of the season and keeping Clowney at bey as he was virtually a non-factor, finishing the game with only one tackle. Like many of his 49er teammates, Staley is beginning to play his best ball at the best possible time as the playoffs are officially underway.


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