The San Francisco 49ers closed their 2025 season not with the resilient fight fans had come to expect, but with a quiet, unsettling collapse that exposed every fragility they had tried to mask for months.
Their 41â6 blowout loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday night was not simply a postseason eliminationâit was an unraveling.
A collapse without resistance, without rhythm, and without the trademark grit that defined the Kyle Shanahan era.
And nothing captured the magnitude of the defeat more clearly than Brock Purdy being benched in the fourth quarter.
In a stunning late-game decision, Shanahan officially conceded the contest by pulling his starting quarterback and inserting backup Mac Jones, signaling that the game had slipped beyond any conceivable comeback.
Lumen Field once again lived up to its reputation as the 49ersâ personal nightmare chamber, a building that has repeatedly delivered heartbreak and disruption to San Franciscoâs postseason ambitions.
This Divisional Round matchup was no exception.
A Nightmare Beginning San Francisco Never Recovered From
The tone of the game was established almost immediately, and violently.
Just 13 seconds into the contest, Rashid Shaheed blasted through San Franciscoâs coverage unit, taking the opening kickoff 95 yards to the house.
The stadium erupted.
The Seahawks sideline erupted.
And from that moment forward, the 49ers were playing on their heels, forced into reactive football instead of dictating tempo and identity.
Momentum is rarely lost instantly in the NFLâbut on this night, it disappeared before the offense even touched the field.
Seattleâs Defense Suffocates a Shorthanded 49ers Offense
From the opening series, Seattle defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald smothered the 49ersâ offensive rhythm with a game plan tailored to exploit personnel losses and line instability.
Brock Purdy, already limited by the absence of key offensive weapons, never found his footing against the relentless pressure packages and disguised coverages that defined the Seahawksâ approach.
He finished the night 15-of-27 for just 140 yards, one of the least impactful performances of his postseason career.
The 49ersâ inability to sustain drives only amplified Seattleâs defensive edge, allowing the Seahawks to dictate every phase of the game while keeping San Franciscoâs defense on the field far too long.
The offense never matched the urgency of the moment.
Purdyâs Mistakes Seal the Collapse
The turning point arrived in the second half when Seattleâs pass rush grew increasingly aggressive.
Purdy, attempting to salvage offensive momentum, instead delivered two critical turnovers that sealed San Franciscoâs fate.
First came the strip-sackâan explosive blindside hit that dislodged the ball and handed Seattle prime field position.
Then came the late interception, a desperate throw into coverage that symbolized a night of misreads, pressure, and frustration.
As the deficit ballooned to 35 points, Shanahan faced the impossible choice every coach dreads: keep the starter in and risk injury, or preserve him for the future while acknowledging the present was unsalvageable.
He chose the latter.
With nine minutes remaining, Brock Purdy was benched.
Mac Jones took the field for cleanup duty.
And with that substitution, the Shanahan-led 49ers officially surrendered.
Kenneth Walker III Dominates the 49ersâ Defense
While Purdy struggled, Seattleâs offense found its heartbeat in running back Kenneth Walker III, who delivered one of the finest postseason performances of his career.
Walker shredded the 49ersâ defensive front for 116 rushing yards and three touchdowns, repeatedly breaking through arm tackles and exploiting defensive breakdowns at every level.
His explosiveness forced the 49ers to commit additional bodies to the box, opening passing windows and keeping the Seahawks perpetually on the attack.
San Francisco had no answers, no adjustments, and no resistance to Walkerâs physical dominance.
An Offense That Couldnât Find the End Zone
San Francisco managed only two field goals from kicker Eddy Pineiro in the second quarter.
Beyond those six points, the 49ers never sniffed the end zone.
The offense sputtered.
Early-down efficiency collapsed.
Explosive plays vanished.
And in a sobering statistical twist, the 49ers have now gone eight consecutive quarters without scoring a touchdown against the Seahawks.
That streak encapsulates the broader problem: Seattle has solved the 49ers, and San Francisco has not solved Seattle.
Historic Streak Ends for Shanahan
The loss also ended one of Shanahanâs most impressive coaching feats.
He entered the game with a perfect 7â0 career record in Wild Card and Divisional Round contests.
That streak, built across years of dominance in early playoff rounds, collapsed in spectacular fashion.
For a coach long praised for his preparation and scheming, the abrupt unraveling in Seattle raises difficult questions about strategy, game planning, and adaptability under postseason pressure.
Questions that will follow the organization into the offseason.
Where the 49ers Go From Here
Seattle now advances to the NFC Championship, while the 49ers head back to the Bay Area searching for answers that wonât come easily.
How does a Super Bowl contender lose by 35 points in a game of this magnitude?
How does a team with so much talent look so unprepared?
And what does this mean for the future of Brock Purdy, Kyle Shanahan, and the championship window the franchise has fought to preserve?
These are the questions that will define the offseason.
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The 41â6 final score is only the surface.
The deeper issuesâinjuries, inconsistency, offensive regression, defensive breakdownsâwill shape how San Francisco restructures for 2026 and beyond.
Because for a franchise with expectations as high as the 49ers, this ending is not merely disappointing.
It is unacceptable.
