Brock Purdy was laid out.
It was late in the fourth quarter and the San Francisco 49ers quarterback had become origami on grass, rudely folded between a pair of Seattle Seahawks defenders and left staring at the sky from the flat of his back. The thumb on his throwing hand was bashed and bloody, a perfect representation of the49ers' playoff outlook. In a game that meant so much for the franchise's never-ending uphill battle, a foothold was lost that was more important to San Francisco than any other postseason team.
There would be no playoff bye week for the 49ers. Nor would there be home-field advantage that could have allowed San Francisco to awaken Sunday with the comfort of being settled into Levi's Stadium through Super Bowl 60. Instead, sunrise will serve up a different reality: Both the49ers and their postseason fortunes were thrashed by the Seahawks in a brutal 13-3 loss.
Denied the No. 1 seed in the NFC and dispatched all the way down to No. 5. And if theLos Angeles Rams beat the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, San Francisco will be knocked down to the sixth seed. For the 49ers, that will mean the difference between playing their wild-card game on the road against either the Carolina Panthers or Tampa Bay Buccaneers (both of whom finished with 8-9 records) or against the Philadelphia Eagles or Chicago Bears (both of whom enter Sunday 11-5).
"We're ready for it," head coach Kyle Shanahan said after the loss. "I mean, yeah, it would have been nice to have to have a home game here — or both home games and get a bye — but it is what it is. This team's been through a lot this year. Now we got to do it the hard way, and we'll embrace the s*** out of doing it the hard way and look forward to it."
It worth noting Shanahan's 49ers just beat the Bears 42-38 in a fourth-quarter comeback in Week 17. It's also worth noting that the Eagles have struggled to string together offensive consistency over the course of the season. Both are certainly beatable in this NFC. Especially when you consider that despite getting absolutelyhandledphysically by the Seahawks on Saturday, the 49ers still had a chance until a late Purdy interception was tipped at the line of scrimmage before caroming off the hands of running back Christian McCaffrey and into the arms of Seahawks linebacker Drake Thomas. The 49ers were at the Seahawks' 6-yard line and it ended San Francisco's last best chance to cut into Seattle's 13-3 lead.
"It's a play I have to make — absolutely have to make," McCaffrey said afterward. "I expect nothing less than to make that play and it's completely on me."
That's one way to look at it. Another way would be to admit that San Francisco badly missed wideout Ricky Pearsall one week after he provided an instrumental spark against the Bears. Not to mention left tackle Trent Williams, who would have been a significant anchor against a Seattle front line that battered Purdy and helped bottle up an offense that had been humming as it continued to be streamlined through McCaffrey. That's how San Francisco went from putting 42 on Chicago to matching the lowest point total (3) of Shanahan's career as a head coach. The last time that happened was 2017 and San Francisco was just starting the process of a total teardown in the first season under Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.
Maybe that's a sign that Seattle and its defensive wizard head coach Mike Macdonald are worthy of the No. 1 seed. Maybe it's a sign that the 49ers are starting to feel the effects of being so wildly beaten up with injuries and having to juggle inconsistent lineups. Most likely, it's a little bit of both. And the latter certainly didn't get any better on Saturday night.
Shanahan revealed that Purdy suffered a shoulder stinger on the 49ers' last offensive play — the one that left him lying on his back after getting steamrolled by two defenders on a fourth-and-6 incompletion with 1:51 left — to go along with his banged up thumb. The 49ers also saw linebackers Dee Winters and Tatum Bethune exit the game with ankle and groin injuries, respectively. If those linger, it would mean San Francisco could enter the playoffs without two starting linebackers.
When Shanahan talks about the hard way, this is what it continues to look like for San Francisco. Losing more players. Seeing Purdy take a beating. Having McCaffrey make an uncharacteristic mistake. Now going on the road for the postseason and spending Sunday hoping the Cardinals can somehow topple a Rams team that will absolutely be playing its full slate of starters to lock in that No. 5 seed and guarantee it won't be the one going to play in 30-degree weather in Chicago or facing defending Super Bowl champ Philadelphia in its house.
"Obviously [the No. 1 seed] was our goal, but we can't dwell on it," Purdy told reporters. "We have a pretty quick turnaround here and we got to go win next week. Our team has been through so much adversity, guys going down, next guy up. People have counted us out and that's fine and they can say what they want, but for us to go on the road and find a way to win, we've done it before and that's going to be our goal."
After Saturday, it's the only goal left — the only trek left. And for now, it goes through Seattle.
