Niners Nation
The 49ers struggled to finish another game on Sunday against the Seahawks and it cost them dearly.
The San Francisco 49ers faced another disappointing defeat on Sunday afternoon, falling short in a 20-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks to drop to 5-5 on the year and 1-3 in divisional play.
It was a game in which the 49ers held a lead for much of the day, but couldn’t ultimately seal the deal, with the Seahawks pulling off the comeback by scoring a touchdown with just 12 seconds left in the game on Sunday.
Sunday’s loss brought up a recurring issue for the 49ers: finishing games.
Looking at San Francisco’s five losses in 2024, four of them have come with the team either trailing by one score or leading entering the fourth quarter. Ultimately, they now stand at .500 in a competitive NFC playoff picture, with oddsmakers now favoring them to actually outright miss the postseason for the first time since 2020.
Is finishing games the biggest issue for the 49ers currently?
Given the way they’ve struggled in losses, and even in some of their close victory, it’s hard to say otherwise.
Looking specifically in the fourth quarter, the 49ers have really struggled on the offensive end when holding a one-score lead, as they’ve only scored on two of their nine drives in those situations. Those two scores came in San Francisco’s 36-24 win over Seattle back in Week 6.
Apart from that? It’s been duds, which has allowed teams to creep back and pull off improbable comeback victories against San Francisco, leaving them in their current dilemma.
Looking specifically at Sunday, the 49ers held a 17-13 lead with just over nine minutes left in the game and even had a chance to hand the kill shot as Seattle turned it over on downs, leaving the ball in San Francisco’s hands with under four minutes left.
Well, the 49ers had opportunities, even getting inside Seattle territory with a 1st & 10 at the Seahawks 46-yard line. But, the offense sputtered from there, with Brock Purdy missing Deebo Samuel high on a dig on 2nd & 11, leading to a punt that spearheaded the eventual game-winning drive for the Seahawks.
“I’m just extremely disappointed,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said after the game. “I thought we had a chance to put them away a number of times throughout the game. I thought the penalties we had on a number of drives just killed us. I thought we had some good momentum and then had a penalty that kind of ended the drive on two big drives. That cost us points on both of them.
“Still should have put it away there on that last drive and had every opportunity to, and missed a couple opportunities to do that. And when we did that, we gave them a chance. I thought our defense played great all game until that last drive. But let them hang around, and when you let people hang around, that’s...
