In the aftermath of a 41–6 playoff humiliation, Kyle Shanahan didn’t deflect or soften the fallout. Instead, the San Francisco 49ers‘ head coach placed responsibility squarely on his team’s performance, players and coaches alike, setting a clear tone for how the result would be addressed inside the locker room.

“No one played perfectly; no one played great today,” he said during the post-game press conference. “No one coached great today. They got us pretty good. I thought Brock made several plays, but in the 2nd half it got away from all of us.”

Seattle took control before San Francisco could settle. Rashid Shaheed’s 95-yard kickoff return touchdown erased any margin for error immediately, and the Seahawks followed it by winning the line of scrimmage on both sides. The 49ers’ first offensive drive ended on a failed fourth-down option, and the early deficit forced Shanahan into a pass-heavy script that Seattle’s defense was built to handle.

The Seahawks’ front consistently collapsed the pocket while also shutting down the run. Christian McCaffrey had nowhere to go early and later spent extended stretches on the sideline dealing with a shoulder stinger. Without a reliable run threat, San Francisco became predictable, and Seattle leaned into tight coverage with two deep safeties, daring the 49ers to sustain long drives.

Brock Purdy’s opening stretch reflected that challenge. While the wild card game against the defending champions saw him complete 58.1 percent of the passes for 262 yards and 2 touchdowns, the recent game saw a significant dip.

 He made a handful of sharp throws and extended plays with his legs, keeping drives alive when protection broke down. In the first half, most of San Francisco’s passing production came through McCaffrey and tight end Jake Tonges, not the wide receivers. The receivers combined for minimal yardage early, leaving Purdy few clean answers downfield.

The game tilted further when Tonges fumbled late in the first half. Trailing 10–0 at the time, San Francisco had a chance to stabilize, but the turnover set up another Seattle score and pushed the margin to 17–0. From there, the 49ers were playing uphill without the personnel or rhythm to do it.

As the game wore on, Purdy’s job became increasingly difficult. Seattle’s pressure intensified, and with George Kittle already out and Tonges later exiting, Purdy was forced to throw to players not normally featured in those situations. His third-quarter interception came on a broken play, with Purdy trying to salvage a down while under pressure and off schedule.

The fourth quarter was more punishment than football. Purdy was sacked again, lost a fumble on a hit from DeMarcus Lawrence, and spent much of the night escaping pressure rather than attacking coverage. His early poise gave way to constant disruption, not because of reckless decisions, but because the structure around him had completely collapsed.

With no touchdowns throughout, the QB completed just 55.6 percent of the passes for a concerning 140 yards. But Purdy wasn’t the reason the game unraveled, but he couldn’t stop it either. He showed competitiveness and creativity early, then absorbed the consequences of a mismatch that widened with every possession. By the time he was pulled, the result had been decided for a while. Seattle had imposed its physical advantage, forced mistakes, and never let San Francisco reset.

Shanahan’s assessment matched the tape. The 35-point defeat was the worst loss for Shanahan since he joined the team in 2017. Every other time his team made the postseason, they reached the NFC Championship Game after winning two games. It’s safe to say that Saturday’s loss was even worse than the 31–6 playoff defeat to Tampa Bay in January 2003.

It was also the second-largest playoff loss in franchise history. The only worse postseason loss came in the 1987 divisional round, when San Francisco fell 49–3 to the New York Giants, one of the largest blowouts ever in NFL playoff history.

And, when asked about how he thinks the team performed through the season, the head coach simply couldn’t find words to describe it, but did give a timeline around when he could be ready to share an assessment. 

Kyle Shanahan couldn’t summarize the 49ers’ season

When asked about how he thinks the team performed through the season, Kyle Shanahan simply mentioned that he would need some time to recount things to draw a final verdict.

“I’ll process that over the next… I’m going to process that a lot tonight. I’ll do it a lot tomorrow.  I’ll do that over the next month,” he said, in the aforementioned presser. “You think about the season always throughout the offseason. Tonight is a little hard. I tried to articulate that to the guys. We didn’t get caught up so much tonight. Like I said, I’m very proud of a lot of guys in there. We’re extremely disappointed right now, but it doesn’t take away for how I feel about them right now.”

Moving forward, while the Seahawks move on to the NFC Championship Game, the 49ers return to the Bay Area, facing difficult questions about how a team seen as a Super Bowl contender struggled so badly when it mattered the most.

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