The San Francisco 49ers’ playoff run came to a screeching halt Saturday in a 41-6 loss to the division rival Seattle Seahawks - and while the scoreboard told one story, the players knew there was more beneath the surface.
Cornerback Deommodore Lenoir didn’t sugarcoat it postgame. When asked if things might’ve gone differently with a healthy roster, his answer was blunt: “Landslide.” He wasn’t making excuses, but he wasn’t hiding from the reality either.
“To have those guys, (it would have been) a totally different game,” Lenoir said. “But I mean, we can't make no excuses. We had enough guys in here to get the job done, so I feel like it didn't just go in our favor."
The 49ers came into the postseason bruised and battered. Defensive pillars Nick Bosa and Fred Warner had been sidelined for months, and first-round rookie Mykel Williams never got a chance to make his playoff debut.
Then came the gut punch - George Kittle, arguably the best tight end in football, went down with a torn Achilles in the wild-card win over the Eagles. That loss loomed large on Saturday.
“We’re down the best tight end in the world,” said veteran left tackle Trent Williams. “It’s a lot of things we’re up against, not just Seattle.”
Williams didn’t stop there. “When you're playing with guys you're signing off the practice squad, guys you're taking off the street - you got to temper expectations a bit.”
And he’s not wrong. Depth matters in the NFL, but there’s a difference between next man up and asking someone who wasn’t even in the building two weeks ago to hold the line in a playoff game.
Seattle, to their credit, took full advantage. The Seahawks forced three turnovers and stifled the 49ers’ offense, holding them to just 181 yards heading into the fourth quarter.
Brock Purdy, who had been steady all season, struggled mightily. He finished 15-of-27 for 140 yards, no touchdowns, and a 54.6 passer rating - his lowest of the year, and by a wide margin.
On the other side, Kenneth Walker ran wild. The Seahawks’ back gashed San Francisco’s depleted front for 116 yards on 19 carries, punching in three touchdowns - his highest single-game total this season. It was a statement performance in a game where Seattle didn’t just win - they dominated.
The two teams had split their regular-season series, with San Francisco winning the opener and Seattle claiming the Week 18 matchup to lock up the NFC West. But this one wasn’t about rivalry - it was about attrition.
Injuries are part of the game, and no team escapes the postseason unscathed. But for the 49ers, the sheer volume of missing talent proved too much to overcome.
They had the pieces to be a contender. But by the time they stepped on the field Saturday, too many of those pieces were on the sideline, or not even in uniform.
And in the NFL playoffs, that’s the difference between moving on - and going home.