The 49ers won their season opener 17-13 over the Seahawks in Seattle on Sunday, overcoming injuries and some ugly play for a divisional victory.
Brock Purdy’s deep ball to Ricky Pearsall Jr. and touchdown pass to Jake Tonges were the key plays on the Niners’ game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter. Purdy was 26-of-35 for 277 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Nick Bosa’s strip-sack of Sam Darnold and fumble recovery on Seattle’s ensuing possession sealed the game after the Seahawks drove into the red zone with less than a minute left.
Christian McCaffrey had 69 yards rushing and 73 receiving while Pearsall led San Francisco with 108 receiving yards, including a 45-yard bomb down the left sideline to set up the winning score.
Here’s what coach Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers had to say after the win:
Kyle Shanahan
On the severity of George Kittle’s hamstring injury:
We gotta get the MRIs and everything tomorrow to find out.
On the deep ball to Pearsall:
It was a double move. We ran it earlier, I want to say the second third down of the game, and then we just came back with a double move on it. Ran a real good route and Brock threw a good ball, and must have had good protection on the play because it takes a while to do.
On Tonges’ TD:
That was just breaking out. I mean, I was looking to the left on the play that we were calling and they weren’t there. I take my eyes to the right and Brock’s breaking the pocket and when he threw that up, I couldn’t see it at all. I didn’t know if he was throwing it away, I didn’t know if it was a pick but our guys on the sideline started cheering.
On Tonges and Luke Farrell stepping into Kittle’s role:
It was huge. It wasn’t just that catch. Both of those tight ends — him and Luke — and Juice picking it up. Losing Kittle in that game was big for us. He was a huge part of the game plan, as you guys saw earlier. Had to mix some guys around and those guys stepped up big, man.
On the win:
I was just so happy with our team. I mean, there was a lot of adversity in that game that we had to overcome. Offense, defense, special teams, number of injuries, those two turnovers, being able to get to even it out and still find a way to win, I was real proud of our team.
On the missed kicks:
I was disappointed that we missed two field goals, missed one, which is a big miss, especially. We were inside the 10. The next one, Love made a hell of a move. I think it was Love splitting that D gap, looked like he jumped over the guys from what I saw on the scoreboard. But we got to clean up that protection. That’s everyone there, that one wasn’t Jake. That’s just the whole operation.
On his reaction to Bosa’s fumble recovery:
Took a breath. Was relieved, pumped up. Then I got to watch out for all the big guys to try to knock me out on the sideline to celebrate after it, who’s much more aggressive than me. But I was pumped. I mean, in those two-minute situations, you want to go tee off on the quarterback and from what I saw he did an awesome job not just running past him.
On whether Moody’s status is in peril:
No, no question.
On this game being one they may not have won last year:
I don’t think we’re tinking much about that right now. We’ve been working ot do that and I think a game like this makes it easier to do that too, because you’re right. That was one that could have gone either way, especially after the missed field goal, the block, the two turnovers and a few big injuries in that game. So for us to still find a way to close out that and win, real proud of this year’s team and hope we’ll be back at it next week.
Nick Bosa
On making the game-saving play:
It means a lot. It was a grind of a game, lots of ups and downs. It tested us in a lot of ways. It was really good, obviously. Ending with a win is what we’re always aiming for and the fact that I was able to help, it’s always great.
On stopping the run and playing Seattle:
That’s what we always emphasize. It was a scheme we were familiar with (because of) the Kyle Shanahan tree. For the young guys, it was good because they’ve seen it in camp. Saleh’s the man. He calls it great. I need to watch it and don’t know what’s going on half the time in a game. But No. 1 is to stop the run.
On the final play:
That was just a rush. It was a grind all game. They were making it tough. And thankfully, I made a play at the end.
On emotions throughout the game:
It was a roller coaster. In the NFL, you have to stay even-keel no matter what happens because if I’m not locked in on that last play, maybe we lose. So you never know when your opportunity is going to come.
On defensive coordinator Robert Saleh:
He’s as good as any defensive coach in the league. You could just feel leading up to the game how important this is to him. He was trying to get everything perfect before we step on the field, even with a lot of young guys. He was a little nervous coming in. We all were.
Everybody is nervous in the NFL. First game. It’s a high-pressure business and you have to go out and perform. People forget quick, so you have to go do your thing every day.
On Fred Warner’s toughness:
He had something shoved up his nose. I was just like, “Fred, you all right?” Because he got hit in the stomach and was gasping for air and his nose was just leaking blood. I’m like “Are you OK? You don’t look OK.” But whenever Fred goes down, I’m just waiting for him to combe back because he’s a great player and had a great game. His leadership is right up there with Saleh’s. He’s a coach and the best linebacker in the league.
On Jake Moody:
I’m always supportive of a guy struggling. Obviously that position is cut and dry whether you’re getting it done or not. I’ll never turn on my teammate
Jake Tonges
On the touchdown play:
I had a corner curl route and I kind of slipped a little bit coming out of it but I looked back at. Brock and he started scrambling around. So immediate scramble drill, you know, try to stay inbounds, try to beat your guy. I saw him throw it up. I wasn’t sure if he was throwing it away or whatever but I just tried to cut underneath the corner right there and high-point it and come down inbounds.
On stepping in for Kittle:
It’s really just figuring out in our different personnels, who’s going to play which position and how we’re going to ssplit up the 11-personnel stuff. So that stuff was all talked about at halftime, throughout the third and fourth quarter. But we just try and be as prepared as you can and slide right in there and try to have the lvel of play be as close as it can possibly be.
On his three catches on the final drive:
The first one was a screen. Honestly, I could have done a better job on that one and kind of got caught up. My feet got caught up with one of the offensive linemen, so I was disappointed about that one because they’re calling my number a little bit. So that one could have gone better. and then the other one, I know I could have gotten the ball kind of later in the progression, so I was just trying to stay alive and convert that into a first down. And obviously the last one I wasn’t expecting in that fashion.
Brock Purdy
On the winning touchdown pass:
It was a fast break, so you walk up and snap the ball quick and just a straight across-the-board read. Just felt like coverage was tight and at that point I felt like I needed to leave the pocket, trying to find a guy in the end zone. And then as I’m going away, (the goal was to) put it hopefully where nobody can get it. I know it was a close call but he used his length, came down with it.
On Tonges:
It just comes down to opportunities and in games, do you get the right look to get the ball and everything. So he’s been a consistent guy all throughout last year and camp. George goes down today and then, boom, he’s ready for his opportunity. We all love Jake. He’s a smart kid and we all love him.
Christian McCaffrey
On the win:
We have a really new team. There’s so much talk about our past teams and we try to wipe away all the past noise away and focus on this team. To have a bunch of new guys come out fir the first time together and play with each other and get out a gritty win against a good team in a touch environment, that’s a big deal.
Fred Warner
On the bloody nose:
I laid out for the tackle and I guess my helmet wasn’t on tight enough, so that chin strap kind of came up and got the nose. It was more so falling on his cleat that got me (in the stomach).
On Saleh:
It’s huge. I’ve talked about it all offseason, just the confidence that you have as a player with such a dialed-in coach like that. Having him back on the sideline making adjustments, I kind of had a feel for how he was going to call the game.
On the young defenders’ debut:
When you have young players, you hope that they play assignment-sound. But the thing that you can’t show is that tenacity, that relentlessness to the football. That’s their advantage, if you’re able to just play with your hair on fire. And we needed that in a big way.
On Bosa’s sealing play:
It wasn’t the best coverage by our group, but thank god for Bosa in that situation. I saw the ball come out. I didn’t know who forced it. I saw him get on it, so the fact that he made that big a play was major. It wasn’t clean at all, like I said, all game long, but finding a way to win in the division Week 1 is major.
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