49ers happy to 'stand tall' after late loss

SEATTLE — About nine minutes after the San Francisco 49ers pushed their lead to 20 points against the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night, linebacker Fred Warner suffered an uncomfortable case of deja vu.

Seattle rattled off 14 straight points to cut San Francisco's lead to six and got the ball back early in the fourth quarter.

For a Niners team that blew double-digit fourth-quarter leads to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 3 and the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, it was hard to doubt what was going to be an NFC West trifecta. .

“[A] A thousand percent,” Warner said. “It's bad, but yeah, it was something that was definitely familiar. I thought, 'Hey, we can go one of two ways here. We can stand tall in a hostile environment and get the game we're supposed to get or we can just play the way we've played the last couple of losses.”

This time, despite another rash of injuries and an unseen replay challenge going against them, the Niners persevered to win 36-24.

During the week, the Niners announced that Thursday's contest is the closest thing to a must-win game as you can get in Week 6 in the NFL. A loss would have dropped them to 2-4 overall, 0-3 in the division and 0-4 in the conference. They may still have 11 games to get back into the mix, but the climb would have been significantly more difficult.

The flip side, of course, is that a win would move the Niners to 3-3 and tied for the top of the division with Seattle in a potential head-to-head tiebreaker with an early leg up against the Seahawks.

“I've had some tough losses, tougher than others and when you think you've won, especially division games, it makes us sick,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “We're talking about these two losses as a reminder of how the NFL works, and I think we're kind of spoiled in that way sometimes it's human nature to get too comfortable and you can never get too comfortable.”

The idea of ​​simply relaxing has been difficult for the Niners to grasp as they deal with injuries this season. Already without key players Christian McCaffrey (Achilles tendinitis), linebacker Dre Greenlaw (torn Achilles), defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (torn triceps) and safety Talanoa Hufanga (torn ligament in his wrist), the Niners had more health concerns Thursday. the night

Cornerback Charvarius Ward went through a workout hoping to play through a knee injury but was inactive pregame. Rookie safety Malik Mustafa, starting in Hufanga's place, made an early interception and then left with what Shanahan said was a lower ankle sprain. Perhaps most critical, running back Jordan Mason hurt his left shoulder in the first half, returned for a carry to open the third quarter and then was available only as an emergency the rest of the game. He finished with 73 yards on nine carries and caught another pass for 9 yards.

Shanahan said Mason will undergo further tests on Friday to determine the severity of the injury.

“He thought he was going to be OK,” Shanahan said. “He went back, and it hurt him too much, so he's out. … We'll know more tomorrow.”

As if the injuries weren't enough, they were also on the wrong end of a replay where a camera angle eventually showed the home fans that Seahawks punt returner Dee Williams touched a ball that would eventually be recovered by the Niners at Seattle's 18. Shanahan said. Brian Hampton, the 49ers vice president of football administration, warned him about Williams touching the ball but when officials reviewed the play, they had no angle that provided clear evidence. That call stopped the frustration on San Francisco's sidelines.

Mark Butterworth, the NFL's vice president of instant replay, said after the game that they didn't see a clear replay until it was too late to overturn the play where the ball was touched.

“With it being 'Thursday Night Football,' I thought for sure they were going to have a bunch of camera angles,” Shanahan said. “We threw it thinking we'd get some good angles and then they told me he didn't. And then about two minutes later, I heard all the guys in the box start freaking out saying they saw another angle and it was a fumble.”

As it turned out, that play didn't matter as the 49ers closed out the game with rookies serving in replacement roles.

Cornerback Renardo Green, playing more snaps since Ward was out, came up with his first career interception midway through the fourth quarter that turned into the winning 9-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brock Purdy to George Kittle. Rookie Isaac Guerredo, for Mason, ripped off a 76-yard run that sealed the win with 1:39 left.

“We've been in a lot of big games, we've won a lot of big games,” Kittle said. “We've lost some big games, and so we're experienced at this point. … When you have new guys coming in there and when they feel the confidence from the guys that they've had before, they feel like they fit in and they have that confidence. So, our team has been in that situation and we've worked pretty well with them, especially here on the road in Seattle.”

While the 49ers can enjoy Thursday's win for a few extra days, they won't take long to turn their attention to the next opponent on the schedule: the Kansas City Chiefs. The 49ers have never beaten Kansas City in a regular or postseason game since Shanahan took over in 2017, including, of course, a pair of Super Bowl losses.

Kansas City is 5-0 and the Niners will be more rested than bye.

Suffice it to say, no one in San Francisco would call it a must-win. But there's no denying that they want it.

“It's not like we can get compensation for losing in the Super Bowl,” Williams said. “That ship has sailed. … Obviously, we know what kind of team, one of the best teams in the league, All-Star quarterback, great coach. So, regardless, it's going to be a tough game. We'll take these three days off and Will regroup and try to put together a complete game.”