New coach or not, Seahawks-49ers rivalry still runs through San Francisco

This has been a one-sided rivalry as of late, and it’s gone the San Francisco 49ers’ way. Then again, this series was lopsided in a different way before the Niners’ recent dominance. Kyle Shanahan was hired by the 49ers to be their head coach in 2017. Over those first five seasons, the team had plenty of problems trying to beat the team from the Pacific Northwest. Of course, so did his many predecessors.

Struggling 49ers get back on track at Seattle

Dating back to the teams’ second meeting in 2012 (those great battles between Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll), including the ’13 NFC title game, and through 2021, the Seattle Seahawks won 17 of their 20 meetings with the 49ers. Shanahan lost eight of his first 10 clashes with the ‘Hawks from 2017-21.

Wow, talk about a reversal of fortunes. With their 36-24 Thursday night triumph, and including a playoff win in 2022, the 49ers made it six straight victories in this series (by a combined 184-96 score). That’s the team’s longest string of success in this series. Shanahan’s club made it look somewhat easy and toyed with Mike Macdonald’s defense to the tune of 483 total yards. Six players combined for the Niners’ 228 yards on the ground.

Brock Purdy threw for 255 yards and three touchdowns, two of those to tight end George Kittle. The other was to Deebo Samuel, who scored on a 76-yard connection. Purdy was not sacked and the Niners played turnover-free football. The 49ers came up with two interceptions of Seattle quarterback Geno Smith and recovered a fumbled kickoff return by the Seahawks that led to a field goal.

San Francisco came into the game with a disappointing 2-3 record. To make matters worse, Shanahan’s club had yet to win a game in the conference (0-3) and were 0-2 vs. their NFC West rivals. They were coming off a home loss to the Cardinals, 24-23. A third divisional loss would have put them in numerous holes. However, they rebounded for their best effort of the season.

Things don’t get any easier. Sure, there’s extra time to prepare for next week’s Super Bowl rematch with the Chiefs. Then again, Andy Reid’s team will be coming off its bye.