49ers 32, Seahawks 29: San Francisco survives a turnover-filled game to stay unbeaten
Brock Purdy led two fourth-quarter scoring drives and Eddy Pineiro's 43-yard field goal with 1:56 left kept the 49ers at 5-0.
The San Francisco 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks 32-29 in Seattle on Sunday, taking a game that featured seven combined turnovers, an NFL season high, and moved to 5-0. Brock Purdy led two scoring drives late, and Eddy Pineiro's 43-yard field goal with 1:56 remaining put San Francisco ahead for good.
Seattle's mistakes, San Francisco's gains
The 49ers built a 21-13 halftime lead largely off Seattle errors. Renardo Green's first of two interceptions set up a short drive that ended with a 2-yard Purdy touchdown pass to Mike Evans. Malik Mustapha recovered a fumble at the Seattle 11, and Christian McCaffrey scored on the next play. With 18 seconds left in the half, Seattle chose to run from its own 4-yard line; Gracen Halton stripped George Holani and recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.
The Seahawks did not fold. After a Sam Darnold interception on the opening drive of the second half and a Pineiro miss, Seattle got a 43-yard Jason Myers field goal, then a 23-yard drive capped by a 16-yard Darnold touchdown pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba after Nehemiah Pritchett intercepted Purdy, for a 23-21 lead. A Deebo Samuel fumble set up another Myers field goal and a 26-21 Seattle advantage late in the third quarter. Samuel hurt his hamstring on that play and did not return.
The comeback
Trailing by five, San Francisco faced second-and-21 after an intentional grounding penalty, and Purdy answered with a 28-yard completion to Evans. He then threw a 7-yard touchdown to newcomer Brandin Cooks, and a two-point conversion to Evans made it 29-26. Darnold drove Seattle to a game-tying field goal, but Purdy took the 49ers 43 yards and Pineiro made the kick that decided it.
Seattle's last possession reached the San Francisco 25. Smith-Njigba dropped a third-down pass there, and on fourth down Mustapha stopped Cooper Kupp one yard short of the first down.
Purdy finished 19 of 29 for 189 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
What it means
San Francisco opened the season with five straight wins, the third time in the last eight seasons it has done so. It was also a measure of revenge: the 49ers lost both late-season games to Seattle last year, including a 41-6 divisional-round playoff defeat. The 49ers host Washington on Oct. 19. Seattle falls to 3-2 and visits Denver on Thursday night, with a turnover problem to fix; by this account, its giveaways, especially the fumble from its own 4-yard line before halftime, were the difference.