The San Francisco 49ers‘ offense had no answer for the Seattle Seahawks‘ defense in the 13-3 loss on Jan. 3 at Levi’s Stadium.
Seattle limited Brock Purdy to 127 passing yards and the Niners to 53 yards rushing. Moreover, the Seahawks’ defense sacked Purdy three times and picked him off once.
Despite having George Kittle returning to the squad, the veteran tight end didn’t have much of an impact, recording five receptions for 29 receiving yards. After the loss, Kittle spoke with the media and shared his thoughts on the disappointing performance.
“Well, look, we lost at home to a division rival for the division and the one seed,” Kittle told reporters (h/t 95.7 The Game). “That sucks. That is what it is. And yes, I’m disappointed about it. It’s horrible. [The] good news is I get to play football next week. Whether it’s Saturday, Sunday, Monday, whenever it is, I get to play football again.”
Despite needing to go on the road for the playoffs now, Kittle sees the positive side, knowing that in the Wild Card round, the Niners will have a couple of players back, like Trent Williams and Ricky Pearsall.
“We have a whole new season ahead of us,” Kittle added. “It is what it is. We just got to go to work. We have a week. Hopefully, we get Trent back. That’s super helpful. He’s a really good football player. Maybe Ricky. That’s horrible. I hate that; I hate losing. I hate losing to the Seahawks. But hey, we’re going to play football next week. And whoever it is, whenever what happens.”
49ers’ George Kittle Has No Hard Feelings Toward Seahawks
Even though the 49ers lost and have to endure the Seahawks’ celebration of winning the division on their field and in their building, Kittle doesn’t have sour grapes.
“Cool,” Kittle said when asked about the Seahawks’ celebrations (h/t KNBR). “I would do the same shit. They won the division; they got the one seed. They won an arrival stadium. Good for them.”
The 49ers will now need to go on the road and adopt that mentality, as they will need it to get to the Super Bowl, which will be at Levi’s Stadium, so that’s their motivating factor.
Seahawks Defense Put on a Masterclass Performance
After the win, CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones didn’t hold back on his praise of the Seahawks’ defense for putting together a performance that allowed for the road to the Super Bowl to run through Seattle.
“This was a fantastic performance by a defense that I know we talk a lot about, the Houston Texans,” Jones said on the Jan. 3 edition of “CBS Sports HQ.” “We have talked a lot about the Denver Broncos. But what this defense did [on Jan. 3] is what they have been doing.
“We’re all waiting on the clock to strike midnight, and us not believing we’re going to get to Sam Darnold, and us not believing in the Seattle Seahawks, because it’s not the Legion of Boom, and we don’t have some nickname for this defense. I’m telling you what, they are arguably one of the best defenses in the NFL.”
