Like a good Thanksgiving dinner, the 49ers received plenty of helpings of Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel during the their 31-13 win over the Seahawks on Thursday night
The duo devoured Seattle's defense in the first half, scoring three touchdowns as the 49ers took a 24-3 lead. Samuel scored first on a short rushing score, and McCaffrey ran for the game's next two scores as he and his teammate gained a combined 174 yards in the first half. McCaffrey finished the night with 114 rushing and 139 total yards. Samuel led both teams with seven catches for 79 yards along with his rushing touchdown.
Seattle had a brief comeback that was spearheaded by linebacker Jordyn Brook's pick-six, which was the only touchdown scored by either team in the third quarter -- and the Seahawks' only touchdown of the game. But the 49ers put the contest on ice on Brandon Aiyuk's 28-yard touchdown catch midway through the fourth quarter.
San Francisco's defense dominated a Seattle offense that was missing running back Kenneth Walker III. The unit made life tough on Geno Smith, sacking him six times and holding him to just 180 yards through the air.
Here's a closer look at the 49ers' win on Turkey Day.
Why the 49ers won
San Francisco came out like gangbusters, scoring touchdowns on three of its first five drives. The most notable thing during that stretch was how effortless the 49ers' offense looked while tallying nine plays of over 10 yards. McCaffrey and Samuel did most of the damage, including some big runs behind left tackle Trent Williams.
The 49ers then slammed the door shut in the second half after the Seahawks made things somewhat interesting. Ahead 24-13, the 49ers' defense forced a critical punt that set up the offense's game-clinching drive. San Francisco's pass rush (led by Nick Bosa's two sacks) and Charvarious Ward's sticky coverage of DK Metcalf (who caught just 3 of 9 passes for 32 yards) were two big reasons for the 49ers' success on defense.
Why the Seahawks lost
With Walker out, and with Smith playing with an injury, Seattle needed to get some help from its special teams and defense. They got that help on Dee Eskridge's 65-yard kickoff return following Samuel's touchdown and on Brook's pick-six in early in the third quarter. But the Seahawks still lost because their offense didn't carry their weight.
Walker's absence led to the Seahawks' offense being one-dimensional for most of the night. Seattle started to pick up some momentum at the end of the first half when they went to an up-tempo offense. It continued in the second half as Smith began to complete some chunk plays downfield.
But it was too little, too late as the 49ers defense -- knowing a pass was coming -- was able to tee off on Smith while not giving him time to complete downfield passes on weighty downs.
Turning point
It appeared that the 49ers could be in some trouble at the end of the third quarter. Their lead was cut to 11 points and they were punting the ball back to a Seahawks offense that had just put points on the board. But a penalty on Zach Charbonnet (who was starting in place of Walker), a negative reception by Charbonnet on the following play and a third-down sack of Smith by Bosa and Arik Armstead forced a Seahawks punt.
The 49ers' offense took advantage of the punt by getting back to what they did so well in the first half. With McCaffrey setting up the passing game, Brock Purdy provided the knockout with his touchdown pass to Aiyuk.
Play of the game
While it didn't lead to a win, rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba's one-haded catch in the third quarter was hands-down the game's best play. The sensational catch -- which set up a field goal -- came on the nine-year anniversary of Odell Beckham Jr.'s memorable one-handed grab.
Quotables
"He stopped that s---!" -- Samuel, during NBC's postgame show, on Ward's coverage of Metcalf
"This is such a fun team to play with. I love all these guys. Super thankful for them." -- McCaffrey on playing for the 49ers
"Food is the last thing I want after a game. No carbs, only meat." -- Bosa on being offered some Thanksgiving grub after the win
What's next
The 49ers will head to Philadelphia for a rematch of January's NFC title game. Both teams have thrown out bulletin board material since that game, which was won by the Eagles after Purdy left the game early with an injury.
Seattle will travel to Dallas to face a Cowboys team that plastered the Commanders earlier in the second game of Thursday's triple-header. Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb both had big Turkey Day games, while DaRon Bland made history by recording his fifth pick-six of the season.