By Byron Richmond
The final game of the 2019 regular season Sunday night saw the San Francisco 49ers take on the Seattle Seahawks for the NFC West championship.
In a game that saw the return of running back Marshawn Lynch, the division matchup went down to the very last second, with Russell Wilson throwing a 4-yard pass to tight end Jacob Hollister for what could’ve been the game-sealing score.
Trent Greenlaw came up with the critical stop that ended up being reviewed by the officials as they let it stand. This, an odd game from the outset, saw the 49ers completely dominate the Seahawks in the first half, as Seattle could get no offense going against the 49ers defense, being shutout 13-0 at the half.
The 3rd quarter, however, seemed to signal a paradigm shift when Seattle and Russell Wilson started the comeback that began with a touchdown pass to Tyler Lockett with 5 minutes to go, closing the gap to 13-7 San Francisco.
Kyle Shanahan’s offense quickly answered back though, and within 2 minutes, had scored with a Raheem Mostert 2 yard touchdown run to make it a 12 point game.
Come the 4th quarter, the adrenaline felt between the two divisional rivals, as well as a sellout crowd at CenturyLink Field, as the recently returned Lynch justified his “beast mode” monicker with a leaping one-yard touchdown to close the gap at 19-14.
Unfortunately, though, the 49ers would again retaliate on the next drive with a 13-yard touchdown run by Raheem Mostert, his second of the game to go up 12 again, yet, despite another attempt by Wilson and the Seattle offense to tire out a well-round San Francisco defense, the narrative on this cold December night did not favor the birds, as the Seahawks would lose 26-21, winning the NFC West in the process.
In his return, Lynch, who averaged 4.3 yards per attempt prior to 2018 retirement, finished with a line of 12 carries for 34 yards, a measly 2.8 yards per attempt.
With the loss, the Seahawks, who finished with an 11-5 record, will play NFC East victors, the Philadelphia Eagles, in an NFC Wild Card matchup on Sunday, January 5th. Should they look to defeat an inconsistent Philly offense, Wilson must rely on the likes of Lynch and Travis Homer, who totaled 92 yards of offense in Sunday’s loss, to help facilitate a potential victory.
