The San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks played a tight, messy one on Sunday, and it ended with the kind of finish that had fans arguing long after the final whistle. San Francisco escaped with a 32-29 win in Week 5, but the last sequence turned into the sort of officiating flashpoint that took over the conversation.
Seattle’s final possession had a chance to extend the game. Facing fourth-and-10, Sam Darnold went to Cooper Kupp, who lunged forward in a desperate effort to reach the first-down line as he drifted out of bounds near the 40-yard line with 54 seconds left.
The call on the field came down against Seattle: Kupp was short. After review, officials upheld it, ruling that he had gone out of bounds before reaching the marker.
That was enough to set off a wave of reaction online. One fan wrote, 'That s*** is rigged man LMFAOOOOOO,' while another posted, 'I just spent three hours watching great football for the game to be decided by refs man.' A third added, 'i'm genuinely confused how that is not a 1st down,' and another said, 'The Seahawks got ROBBED,' before adding, 'Cooper Kupp CLEARLY got the first down vs the 49ers.'
Not everyone saw it that way. Some fans sided with the ruling, pointing to Kupp stepping out first.
'Nah, he short. He stretched after he was out of bounds,' one wrote.
Another said, 'There is a chip in the ball dude. They know where it went out,' while a different fan added, 'I thought it was a good call,' and another wrote, 'THAT WAS SHORT, PLAYER.
THEY ALMOST ALWAYS GET THIS CALL CORRECT.'
The decision effectively ended Seattle’s comeback bid and left the Seahawks at 3-2. For San Francisco, now 5-0, it was a measure of revenge after losing twice to Seattle late last season, including a 41-6 divisional-round playoff defeat with a short-handed roster.
The 49ers’ offense had to grind for everything. Brock Purdy delivered when it mattered, helping San Francisco become 5-0 for the third time in the last eight seasons. The game itself was a slog, with an NFL season-high seven combined turnovers, Dre Greenlaw getting ejected, and no touchdown drives longer than 25 yards before the 49ers took control while trailing 26-21 late in the third quarter.
Purdy then sparked a key drive against Seattle’s defense, including a 28-yard completion to Mike Evans after an intentional grounding penalty left San Francisco in a second-and-21 hole. That possession ended with Purdy hitting Brandin Cooks for a seven-yard touchdown, and a two-point conversion to Evans pushed the 49ers ahead 29-26.
Darnold answered with a field-goal drive to tie it again, but Purdy and the 49ers moved the ball 43 yards to set up Pineiro’s go-ahead kick. Seattle still had one more shot, but Jaxon Smith-Njigba dropped a third-down pass from the 50 at the San Francisco 25 before the Kupp ruling sealed it.
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