{"id":186984,"date":"2023-01-15T05:02:01","date_gmt":"2023-01-15T05:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/the-twist-that-inspired-49ers-second-half-domination-to-crush-seahawks-in-playoff-win\/"},"modified":"2023-01-15T05:02:01","modified_gmt":"2023-01-15T05:02:01","slug":"the-twist-that-inspired-49ers-second-half-domination-to-crush-seahawks-in-playoff-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/the-twist-that-inspired-49ers-second-half-domination-to-crush-seahawks-in-playoff-win\/","title":{"rendered":"The twist that inspired 49ers’ second-half domination to crush Seahawks in playoff win"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan ran onto the field, screaming expletives at officials, feeling so much fury, he’d say later, that he was in a \u201cblackout\u201d state.\n<\/p>\n

And wide receiver Deebo Samuel was so irate that he remained on the ground, afraid of what might happen if he didn’t suppress his urge to leap up and retaliate.\n<\/p>\n

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As for the rest of the 49ers, many began pushing and shoving Seahawks, making it clear they wouldn’t tolerate what safety Johnathan Abram had just done to their teammate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt dang sure lit a fire,\u201d left tackle Trent Williams said.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

Tight end George Kittle added, \u201cThat definitely influenced us to play a little bit angrier and a little bit more mean.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Catch\u201d is the biggest moment in 49ers’ playoff history. But what Abram did to Samuel on Saturday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium \u2014 let’s call it \u201cThe Twist\u201d \u2014 might find its way onto the list.<\/p>\n

The 49ers’ second-half avalanche in their 41-23 wild-card win over Seattle moments began after Abram tackled Samuel at the end of his 21-yard catch early in the third quarter and then, with Samuel on his back, twisted his left foot.<\/p>\n

Samuel, an All-Pro who is among the team’s most vital players, was playing in second game after missing three weeks with knee and ankle injuries, which partly explained the 49ers’ white-hot anger as he initially remained on the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see the definition of our team,\u201d Samuel said, \u201cIGYB I got your back.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For the game’s final 25 minutes the 49ers adopted a new mantra \u2014 I’ll kick your butt \u2014 and turned a one-point deficit into a second-half demolition. Trailing 17-16 when Abram wasn’t flagged for his tug, they outscored the Seahawks 25-0 in the following 19 minutes and 51 seconds.<\/p>\n

The onslaught included two takeaways that led to 14 points and three offensive touchdowns, a scoring barrage that, fittingly, included Samuel’s revenge: With the 49ers leading 31-17 early in the fourth quarter, he caught a pass eight yards beyond the line of scrimmage and sprinted down the left sideline for a 74-yard touchdown that effectively ended Seattle’s season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it pissed a lot of people off,\u201d Shanahan said. \u201cI think it pissed our team off. And I think you could feel our team react to that after. I wish we were like that from the first play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, before the furious second-seeded 49ers (14-4) turned the game into a laugher they were locked in an unexpected battle with a 10-point underdog they’d outscored 48-20 while sweeping them in the regular season.<\/p>\n

The 49ers advanced to the divisional round after a reminder that a journey to their first Super Bowl title in 28 years will likely require more grit than a regular season in which they had an NFL-high 16.8-point margin of victory and finished with a 10 -game winning streak.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a little nervous,\u201d Pro Bowl pas rusher Nick Bosa said. \u201cJust because of how the tide was going.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

The final score was a bit deceiving. The 49ers led 23-17 and the Seahawks, a 9-8 team that qualified for the postseason after receiving assistance in Week 18, had a first down in the red zone with less than three minutes left in the third quarter.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Seahawks led 17-16 at halftime after a second quarter in which they had scoring drives of 78 and 71 yards, scoring more touchdowns (two) against the NFL’s top-ranked defense than they managed in eight quarters (one) during the regular season .<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was not a real feeling like there was that swarm mentality that we talk about,\u201d linebacker Fred Warner said. \u201cIt didn’t feel like there was this overwhelming all hats to the ball. We need guys to go all out and sell out to the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, that changed for the defense \u2014 and the rest of the 49ers \u2014 after Abram yanked Samuel’s foot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t know what he was trying to achieve by doing that,\u201d Warner said. \u201cBut it wasn’t the smartest move.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Brock Purdy became the first rookie quarterback to have four touchdowns (three rushing, one rushing) in a playoff game and became the seventh rookie QB to win a postseason game since 1970. Purdy completed 18 of 30 passes for 332 yards \u2014 more than he had in his five regular-season starts \u2014 and posted a 131.5 passer rating.\n<\/p>\n

Given that, this might be surprising: Purdy most impressive play was an incompletion.<\/p>\n