49ers’ Season Ends in Blowout, But Pride Runs Deep in San Francisco Locker Room
SEATTLE - The scoreboard read 41-6. The season was over. But inside the visitors’ locker room at Lumen Field, the San Francisco 49ers weren’t hanging their heads in shame - they were holding them high, even through the emotion.
It was a brutal ending to a remarkable ride. A team that had no business being in the playoffs - at least on paper - somehow clawed its way into January football, only to be overwhelmed by a red-hot Seahawks squad that’s clearly found another gear.
But for the 49ers, this wasn’t about the final score. It was about how far they’d come.
“Nobody thought we’d be here,” said left tackle Trent Williams, the veteran anchor of a battered offensive line. “Let alone thought we would win this game. At the end of the day, we’re playing with house money when we get to this point, considering who we played with.”
Williams’ postgame words echoed what he told his teammates in the locker room moments after the final whistle - a message not of defeat, but of appreciation for the fight this group showed all season long.
Fullback Kyle Juszczyk, another longtime vet, called 2025 “one of the most enjoyable seasons” of his career. That says something, especially for a guy who’s seen the highs and lows of this league.
“It’s just a really special group,” Juszczyk said. “It’s just fun to play with other guys that will put absolutely everything on the line.
Because that gives you confidence to do so yourself. You know your brothers have your back.”
Head coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t dwell on the loss either. When he addressed the team postgame, it wasn’t about the missed tackles or the lack of offensive rhythm. It was about gratitude.
“I thanked them for the whole season, how much they battled for everything,” Shanahan said. “I know everyone was sick about tonight, how it went in every facet, but I tried not to make it about tonight when I was with them. I thanked them for what they’ve done all year.”
And what they did was remarkable.
This was a team that lost stars left and right - from Nick Bosa to George Kittle to Ji’Ayir Brown - and still managed to string together wins behind backups, practice squad call-ups, and guys who weren’t even on the roster when the season began. Mac Jones, Eddy Piñeiro, Eric Kendricks - they weren’t just fill-ins. They were contributors.
But in Seattle, that magic finally ran out.
Tight end Jake Tonges, who had stepped up earlier in the year during Kittle’s absence, fumbled on San Francisco’s second possession and later left with a foot injury. The Niners finished the game with just two healthy tight ends - Luke Farrell and Brayden Willis, the latter freshly promoted from the practice squad.
In the secondary, rookie safety Marques Sigle, who looked sharp last week in Philadelphia, struggled under the playoff spotlight. A pass interference call set up Seattle’s second touchdown, and a missed tackle led to Kenneth Walker III’s third - a 7-yard score that gave the Seahawks a commanding 24-6 halftime lead.
It was a far cry from the team that had pushed through adversity all season. And it was a clear sign that Seattle, once chasing San Francisco in the NFC West, has now caught up - and maybe pulled ahead.
Three years ago, it was the 49ers who routed the Seahawks in a playoff opener. Now the script has flipped. The 41-6 loss marked San Francisco’s second-worst postseason defeat in franchise history, trailing only the infamous 49-3 loss to the Giants in 1986 - the one where Jim Burt knocked Joe Montana out of the game.
This time, the 49ers couldn’t find the end zone. For the second straight game against Seattle, they were held without a touchdown.
Their wide receivers combined for just 27 yards. Ricky Pearsall, a promising young piece for the future, was held without a catch on two targets, including a diving attempt in the second quarter that just slipped through.
And defensively, without Bosa and Mykel Williams (both sidelined with torn ACLs), the edge collapsed. Kenneth Walker III gashed the 49ers for 116 yards and three scores, averaging over six yards per carry. The replacements couldn’t contain the perimeter, and Seattle took full advantage.
But even in the face of that lopsided loss, Williams wasn’t ready to crown the Seahawks.
“They’re a good defense,” he said. “They played two-shell.
They make you have to dink and dunk down the field. Keep everything in front of them.
It’s a good game plan.”
Still, he pushed back on the idea that Seattle’s defense was among the best he’s faced in his 15-year career.
“What DeMeco (Ryans) is doing in Houston is impressive,” Williams noted. “Hats off to Seattle, but we’ve seen some tough ones this year.”
And while the Seahawks may have taken the last two meetings, Williams wasn’t buying that there’s a significant gap between the two teams.
“You don’t take s-,” he said, when asked what the 49ers could learn from the back-to-back losses. “Obviously, we’re down the best tight end in the world, right? There’s a lot of things we’re up against, not just Seattle.”
He pointed out that the teams split the regular-season series - and reminded everyone that when the 49ers were healthy, they won in Seattle.
“We came down here with a healthy team, and we won,” he said. “That’s what we can be.”
That belief - that defiance - is what defined this 2025 49ers squad. They weren’t the most talented team in the NFC.
They weren’t the healthiest. But they were resilient, and they were together.
And that’s the kind of foundation that doesn’t just fade away in the offseason. It builds something stronger.
“So many young guys and new guys got a lot of really valuable experience - at the same time winning games,” Williams said. “I mean, that’s the best you could ask for.”
The 2025 season may have ended in a blowout. But the 49ers walk away from it knowing they’ve laid the groundwork for something more.