SEATTLE (AP) — When Brock Purdy commanded the huddle ahead of the San Francisco 49ers’ final drive, he provided a clear message to third-string tight end Jake Tonges and the rest of the offense.
“He’s confident, he’s poised, he’s like, ‘Let’s go win this thing,’” Tonges said. “We didn’t want to kick a field goal. We didn’t want to go to overtime. We wanted to win it right there.”
Tonges came through, catching Purdy’s deflected pass for a touchdown with 1:34 remaining, and the 49ers rallied for a 17-13 season-opening win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, Sep. 7.
Tonges entered the game having never caught an NFL pass. He finished with three receptions in relief of injured All-Pro tight end George Kittle and came down with a 50-50 ball from a scrambling Purdy for a 4-yard TD. Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen got a hand on the ball, but it bounced off him and Tonges grabbed it.
“I saw him throw it up,” Tonges said. “I wasn’t sure if he was throwing it away or whatever, but I just tried to cut underneath the corner right there and high-point it and come down in bounds.”
The little-used Tonges was pressed into service because of the Niners’ depleted receiving corps. Top wideout Brandon Aiyuk is out with a knee injury, and receiver Jauan Jennings (shoulder) and Kittle (hamstring) exited Sunday’s game early.
After Tonges’ TD, Jake Moody converted the extra point to put the Niners up by four, a critical conversion given that he missed two field goals earlier.
Sam Darnold moved the Seahawks into position to win his debut with the franchise, hitting Jaxon Smith-Njigba for 40 yards to the San Francisco 14. But on second down from the 9, Nick Bosa strip-sacked Darnold to put the game away.
“Ending with a win is what we’re always aiming for,” Bosa said, “and the fact that I was able to help, always great.”
Purdy went 26 of 35 for 277 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, improving to 4-0 as a starter at Lumen Field. Kittle caught a 7-yard TD pass from Purdy in the first quarter before getting hurt in the second.
Darnold went 16 of 23 for 150 yards as the Seahawks mustered 234 yards of total offense.
“For us, it was not enough today,” Darnold said. “I felt like we weren’t as efficient as we wanted to be on first and second down — and third down we have to be way better as well.”
Zach Charbonnet’s 1-yard rush early in the second quarter tied the game at 7-all, and the Seahawks took the lead on Jason Myers’ 48-yard field goal with 2 seconds left in the first half. Myers connected again from 37 yards to put Seattle ahead 13-10 with 3:24 left in the game.
Then Purdy and his supporting cast went to work.
“I’m just so happy with our team,” Shanahan said. “There was a lot of adversity in that game that we had to overcome: offense, defense, special teams. The number of turnovers. … I was real proud of our team.”
Saleh shows out
Robert Saleh returned as San Francisco’s defensive coordinator after previously holding the job from 2017-20; he then had a stint as the New York Jets’ head coach. Saleh called some well-timed blitzes to disrupt Darnold and the Seahawks’ offense.
Seattle had four three-and-outs, two in each half. The Seahawks averaged 3.2 yards per carry, with their longest run a 9-yard scramble by Darnold.
“Saleh’s the man,” Bosa said. “He calls it great.”
Motoring McCaffrey
Christian McCaffrey, who was listed as questionable after hurting his calf in practice earlier in the week, was productive for the Niners with nine catches for 73 yards and 22 carries for 69 yards. McCaffrey’s 142 combined yards were his most since Week 15 of the 2023 season.
“We got a scare on Thursday and started feeling much better about it Friday and Saturday,” Shanahan said. “And I did get to talk to him about it. He had a hell of a game, man. It was awesome to have him out there.”
Injuries
Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori sustained an ankle injury in the first half and came back for one special-teams play before being held out the rest of the day.
Up next
49ers: Visit New Orleans next Sunday.
Seahawks: At Pittsburgh next Sunday.
