I’m going to be taking something from the Fooch intellectual property by posting an oldie by a goodie:
Get that rolling on your speakers. While we’re at it, I’ll keep at it with playing the hits and stealing from Fooch’s IP:
The 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks 32-29 in a type of game they most likely would have blown three, or even two, years ago. Actually, this is a game they may not have won last year. Was it pretty? No. But divisional games rarely are. Brock Purdy’s 19 for 29 (65 percent completion)
isn’t exactly earth-shattering, and his first three sacks of the season came today.
Say what you want about Brock Purdy, and I’m sure they will; he showed up when he needed to to win the game. That touchdown drive, in that stadium, was something else. Intentional grounding, offensive pass interference, and some bonehead play calls are not going to stop him from scoring a touchdown, and then the two-point conversion. And if you think his play might have hurt his MVP odds, FanDuel Sportsbook currently has him tied with Josh Allen with the best odds to win.
So the 49ers are now 5-0 and return to Santa Clara to host the Washington Commanders. The Seahawks suffered their first loss to the Commanders, so the 49ers could help in a tiebreaker scenario by taking a win there.
But we can look at the bigger picture here: The 49ers are 3-0 in the NFC West, taking victories from each of their opponents. They are set up perfectly for their divisional rematches. Overall, they have a two game lead over the Seahawks. Provided things don’t completely fall off, they are in a great position to take the division—and possibly the first seed.
Oh, and there’s one more thing: They. Aren’t. HEALTHY. On offense, Mike Evans has that rib injury, Kyle Juszczyk is out, and it’s a bit until De’Zhaun Stribling returns. On defense, the 49ers were without Nick Bosa or Marques Sigle. If they can get those pieces back without suffering more injuries in the meantime (asking a lot, I know), this could be something special.
Beyond the Brock Purdy discussion (which will probably dominate this week), how about that defense? Not only did they generate two (2) interceptions, but they also limited the Seahawks from doing explosive Seahawks things. And…uh…this play that might be a first down, actually:
Maybe it was a first down, maybe it wasn’t. The explanation on the broadcast made sense. But if that’s a first down, then Brock Purdy didn’t have intentional grounding called on him, nor was there an offensive pass interference call; hey, even the Deebo Samuel fumble can be changed (he fumbled).
Regardless of the officiating, the defense doing what it did Sunday without those pieces I mentioned means it can only get better.
But it’s still a long season. Right now the 49ers are 5-0, and they have three divisional wins as well. Undefeated is nice, but undefeated with that divisional record is huge.
Today was a good day. Even though three hours of it raised our blood pressure.
