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# ‘We Just Didn’t Make the Plays’: Seahawks Lament Missed Opportunities in 17-13 Loss to 49ers
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/seattle-seahawks-ernest-jones-lament-missed-opportunities-loss-san-francisco-49ers/
- Published: 2025-09-08T01:42:49.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T06:18:26.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: Game Day, Seahawks, Ernest Jones, Cooper Kupp, Mike Macdonald, Julian Love, Sam Darnold

SEATTLE, Wash. - In a critical 3rd and 3 situation with under two minutes left to play and the outcome of the season opener hanging in the balance, the Seattle Seahawks believed they had San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy right where they wanted him.

After taking the shotgun snap, Seattle took away Purdy’s initial read to the left with running back Christian McCaffrey and receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling blanketed by safety Julian Love and cornerback Josh Jobe at the goal line. As pressure caved in on him, the signal caller rolled out to his right to extend the play, but nobody came open as he drifted towards the sideline.

Already having been picked off twice earlier in the game, Purdy lofted up what looked to be a prayer to the right sideline with cornerback Riq Woolen in position to record a gimme interception. But as the ball fluttered towards the end zone, reserve tight end Jake Tongas skied in front of the defender and stole the ball out of his grasp, reeling in a stunning four-yard touchdown that left the sellout crowd shell-shocked at Lumen Field.

"We played the first 9.9 of that 10-second play at the end phenomenally, and the guy made a great play,” coach Mike Macdonald remarked.

One Jake Moody point after later, much to the chagrin of Macdonald, the 49ers had stormed back in front 17-13, a score that would ultimately stick when Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold’s fumbled moments later in the red zone, leading to a game-ending fumble recovery for the visitors that sent fans speed walking to the exits.

Left with a sick, sinking feeling in his stomach after putting in so much work this offseason, Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones expressed his frustration and regret about missed opportunities on both sides of the ball down the stretch.

“When it mattered, we just didn’t make the plays,” Jones told reporters afterward. “Towards the end, we just didn’t execute as well as we had earlier and lost the game.”

As his been the case for the past four times they have hosted their rivals from the bay, while they held the lead for a good chunk of the afternoon and had kept the 49ers at seven points through three quarters with a valiant effort, the Seahawks simply made too many self-inflicted mistakes to beat a well-coached, hard-nosed 49ers squad on their own home turf.

Defensively, Julian Love blocked a field goal and Seattle intercepted Purdy twice, including a remarkable leaping grab from Jones midway through the third quarter that sent San Francisco to the sideline without any points after advancing past midfield. Jobe also got into the act high-pointing an ill-advised Purdy throw early in the fourth quarter into quadruple coverage, leading to a Jason Myers field goal that restored a 13-10 lead with 3:24 to go on the clock, while a Woolen pass breakup in the end zone took away a likely touchdown on the previous series.

But even with four possessions where the 49ers moved the ball past the opposing 40-yard line leading to just three points during the second and third quarter, those triumphs didn’t lead to a victory as hoped. Though Jones, Love, and the rest of the Seahawks’ defense wanted to shoulder the blame after the defeat with the unit giving up the deciding touchdown after the two-minute warning, they didn’t receive any help from an offense that largely was hapless in a brutal debut for new coordinator Klint Kubiak.

In Seattle’s first eight possessions, only two of them netted more than 20 total yards with five Michael Dickson punts and a back-breaking fourth quarter fumble by receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who coughed up the football on a screen play after he had moved past midfield to halt a promising drive. Between poor production running the football (84 yards, 3.2 yards per carry), missed throws by Darnold that the quarterback certainly would want back, and untimely miscues at crucial moments, the team couldn’t get out of their own way, converting three out of 10 third down opportunities and losing the time of possession battle by more than 15 minutes.

Of those seven blown third down chances, one stood out in particular. Not long before the 49ers called game, match, point, the Seahawks faced 3rd and 7 from the opposing 25-yard line and Darnold quickly fired the ball out to veteran receiver Cooper Kupp, who turned upfield along the sideline with a shot to get past the marker. But on his second and final catch on the day in an underwhelming debut, he came up a yard short, and the team opted to settle for a short Myers field goal rather than go for it.

Trusting the decision made by Macdonald and Seattle’s staff, Kupp wasn’t about to second guess the team’s choice not to go for it in that situation, saying, “I would have liked to find a way to convert that on third down.”

Still, despite the late heroics by Tongas and the mostly abysmal offensive performance by Darnold and company for 55-plus minutes, the Seahawks had a real shot to steal the win in the final minute. With their backs against the wall, Darnold saved his best throw for last, lofting a 40-yard bomb down the left sideline right onto Smith-Njigba’s fingertips down to the 49ers 14-yard line,. Suddenly, the home team was back in business, holding a timeout with 1:06 left to play. It was the type of situation championship teams capitalize on and finish.

But as Macdonald acknowledged after the game, his ‘Hawks aren’t there yet, as there was still time on the clock for victory to be snatched by the firm grip of defeat.

Following a blown up run play where Ken Walker III got stuffed by All-Pro defensive end Nick Bosa for no gain, Darnold took the snap from shotgun on second down and had his sights set on hitting the running back out of the backfield on a checkdown, which could have been a fruitful play without pressure wreaking havoc. But before he could start to drive onto his front foot and fire the ball from the pocket, Bosa had driven right tackle Abraham Lucas back straight into him and his throwing hand struck the blocker, leading to the ball slipping from his grasp.

A split second later, Bosa had recovered the fumble, all but ensuring a fourth straight loss for the Seahawks to the 49ers at Lumen.

“It’s killer,” Kupp said. “The ending of that game just makes you sick. We were right there.”

There’s no downplaying the magnitude of a loss such as the one the Seahawks suffered on Sunday. While it’s a long season and 16 games remain left to play, they had positioned themselves to earn a massive divisional win against a rival that has been running the NFC West for much of the past decade, and if they do fight into contention for an NFC West title or wild card spot down the line, this defeat in a winnable home game could come back to bite them.

Seeing how hard players took the defeat in the moments afterwards, they obviously understand the gravity of the circumstances in a league with just a 17-game season, feeling they let a huge opportunity slip away.

At the same time, while this first result for the 2025 season undoubtedly stings, Jones has plenty of confidence that great things lie ahead for the franchise and that they won’t let one game define them. With him and other veterans such as Kupp and Love driving the ship, they will get back to the drawing board revisiting all of the positives from the opener and addressing where they failed to execute, ready to pick up those like Woolen who may have made mistakes in crunch time so they can come through for the team next time.