What Shanahan, Kittle and McCaffrey said about the 49ers’ rough loss to Seahawks
So much hinged on Saturday’s game for the San Francisco 49ers. A win over the Seattle Seahawks would have given them the top seed in the NFC, home field throughout the playoffs including the Super Bowl and a first-round bye.
But their 13-3 loss at Levi’s Stadium drops Kyle Shanahan’s team to the No. 5 or 6 seed, meaning they won’t get an extra week to get healthier after back-to-back games on just less than a full week of rest.
“We’re ready for it,” Shanahan said. “Yeah, it would have been nice to have a home game here, both home games, and get a bye. It is what it is. This team went through a lot this year. We gotta do it the hard way and we’re going to embrace ... doing it the hard way, and look forward to it.”
The 49ers finished the season 12-5 and had a chance to finish with the NFC West crown and the top seed in the playoffs despite being without quarterback Brock Purdy for eight games, tight end George Kittle for six games, top defensive end Nick Bosa since Week 3 and linebacker Fred Warner since Oct. 12. On Saturday they were missing left tackle Trent Williams and receiver Ricky Pearsall.
Suffice to say, the 49ers are used to adversity. Though they certainly would prefer a bye and home games to give their injured players a chance to rest up, and not have to worry about playing Wild Card weekend on the road, likely in the Eastern Time Zone.
“There are experiences a lot of our vets have gone through,” Kittle said, “and your back’s against the wall. What are you going to do? ... I think this team’s really resilient.”
Here’s what Shanahan and other key players had to say following the loss.
Shanahan’s offense struggling against Seattle’s defense
The 49ers managed just 173 yards of offense, the fewest of any game this season. Their previous low was 223 in their loss to the Houston Texans on Oct. 26 when Mac Jones was under center.
The Seahawks harassed Purdy throughout the night, sacking him three times and hitting him eight more. They added four tackles for loss and deflected five of Purdy’s throws, including the crucial interception that Christian McCaffrey couldn’t handle near the goal line in the third quarter.
“It was what we expected with their defense,” Shanahan said. “But we expected to do better than we did. But we knew it was a good defense, we knew that in Week 1, we know that from watching tape all week, we knew it would be challenge and they got us in a number of moments. Had a couple opportunities I thought, that we missed. And you can’t miss those vs. a team like that.”
Shanahan typically wants to run the ball 35 or more times to dictate things to the defense, but the run game was ineffective while the 49ers offense couldn’t string drives together. The game opened with two three-and-outs and Shanahan’s offense managed just three first downs before halftime.
“They controlled the ball, kept it from us,” Shanahan said. “When we had to get something going, we didn’t stay on the field on third (down).”
Injuries pop up again
Shanahan said linebackers Dee Winters (ankle) and Tatum Bethune (groin) could be facing injuries that keep them out of next week’s playoff games. That means the 49ers could be down to their third string “Mike” linebacker, Warner’s position, and reserve “Will” linebacker. Eric Kendricks and December waivers addition Garret Wallow could be in line for significant roles.
Winters and Bethune were lost during the game, but 90 minutes before kickoff, the 49ers ruled out star left tackle Trent Williams (hamstring) and receiver Ricky Pearsall (knee, ankle), who had 181 yards over the previous two weeks.
The game against the Seahawks was moved to Saturday to accommodate ESPN’s prime-time double header window, costing the 49ers an extra day of rest and preparation for the game, which came after having a short week to prepare for the previous game against the Bears following their Monday Night Football appearance in Indianapolis.
“They were pushing it,” Shanahan said of Williams and Pearsall. “It would have been too risky to play them though. They pushed it all the way to the end, but it wouldn’t have been the smartest decision by us to let them (play).
Shanahan said they would have had “a much better chance” at playing if the game had been on Sunday. When the schedule was released in the spring, it was TBD, allowing the NFL to move it to their desired television window.
McCaffrey takes responsibility
Perhaps the biggest play of the game was the lone interception. Seahawks linebacker Boye Mafe tipped the pass and McCaffrey couldn’t grab it, leading to Drake Thomas intercepting it and going out of bounds at the 3-yard line. It took away a chance for the 49ers to make it a 13-10 game with about 10 minutes remaining.
McCaffrey, who finished the regular season with 2,126 yards from scrimmage and 17 touchdowns, took responsibility for the play.
“It’s a play that I have to make,” McCaffrey said. “Absolutely have to make. I expect nothing less than to make that play and it’s completely on me.”
McCaffrey took blame and noted the 49ers’ banged up defense did well enough to help win the game.
“It’s a shame,” McCaffrey said about scoring 3 points. “(Our) defense did an unbelievable job the whole game. They held them to 13 and that’s huge. It’s on us, man. Again, I go back to that play that could have put us in the game. That’s on me, and I’ll learn from it, grow from it, get better and get rolling in these playoffs.”
This story was originally published January 3, 2026 at 10:01 PM with the headline "What Shanahan, Kittle and McCaffrey said about the 49ers’ rough loss to Seahawks."
