NFL: Purdy gets San Francisco 49ers purring against Seattle Seahawks to to clinch division
Rookie quarterback Brock Purdy threw two touchdown passes to tight end George Kittle and the San Francisco 49ers clinched the NFC West title with a 21-13 victory at the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night.
The 49ers (10-4) won their seventh consecutive game to take a three-game lead over the Seahawks (7-7) with three games to play in the regular season. San Francisco swept the season series to clinch the tiebreaker should the two teams finish tied.
Purdy, making his first career NFL road start after Jimmy Garoppolo broke his foot earlier this month, completed 17 of 26 passes for 217 yards.
The 49ers' Christian McCaffrey rushed 26 times for 108 yards and a touchdown and added 30 yards on six catches. Kittle made four receptions for 93 yards
Seattle's Geno Smith was 31-of-44 passing for 238 yards and a touchdown.
The double fake from Purdy! Kittle is in for the TD @brockpurdy13 @gkittle46#SFvsSEA on Prime Video Also available on NFL+ https://t.co/gyMqx7NKs2 pic.twitter.com/D4TA8mIiq2
Trailing 21-6, Smith hit tight end Noah Fant with a 10-yard scoring strike with 3:35 remaining but the 49ers were able to run out the clock.
Purdy completed all nine of his pass attempts in the opening quarter as the 49ers took a 7-0 lead. Purdy faked screen passes to both his left and right before hitting Kittle over the middle for a 28-yard TD with 3:49 left in the first.
Jason Myers' 38-yard field goal pulled the Seahawks within 7-3.
Seattle got the ball back with less than two minutes left in the second quarter when Smith dumped off a pass to backup running back Travis Homer, who was sandwiched by Jimmie Ward and Dre Greenlaw - with Greenlaw knocking the ball loose. Charvarius Ward recovered the fumble and returned it 40 yards to Seattle's 6-yard