SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Deebo Samuel scored on a catch and a run and the San Francisco 49ers won their 11th straight division game, beating the Seattle Seahawks 28-16 on Sunday.
Samuel had his second straight game with multiple touchdowns to lead San Francisco (10-3) to the brink of winning back-to-back NFC West titles for the first time since 2011-12. The Niners lead the Seahawks (6-7) and Rams by four games with four to play and hold the tiebreaker over Seattle.
Seattle has lost four straight games for the first time in 14 seasons under Pete Carroll and has lost five in a row to the 49ers for the first time.
Drew Lock threw two TD passes in his first start since the end of the 2021 season in place of an injured Geno Smith, but couldn’t keep up with the high-powered 49ers.
Christian McCaffrey had a 72-yard run on the first play from scrimmage for San Francisco to set up a short TD run by Jordan Mason. Brock Purdy and Samuel took over from there after Purdy threw an early interception.
He responded by hitting Samuel on a 54-yard deep shot in the second quarter and broke the game open with a 44-yard TD pass to George Kittle in the fourth quarter to make it 28-16. Samuel also scored on a short run after getting tackled at the 1 on a 13-yard reception.
Purdy finished 19 for 27 for a career-high 368 yards with two TDs and one interception, becoming the fourth player to complete at least 70% of his passes in seven straight games. Joe Montana holds the record with eight in 1989 for San Francisco.
Purdy led a balanced offensive attack. McCaffrey finished with 153 yards from scrimmage, Samuel had 150 and Brandon Aiyuk 126 — marking just the third time in Niners history that three players had at least 125 yards in a game.
Lock got the starting nod after Smith tested his injured groin a few hours prior to the game before being ruled out.
Lock started fast with a 31-yard TD pass on the opening drive to DK Metcalf with Metcalf appearing to celebrate by sending a message in sign language.
Lock added a 25-yarder to Colby Parkinson late in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 21-16, but couldn’t get Seattle over the hump.
Lock finished 22 for 31 for 269 yards with two TDs and two interceptions.
HOT TEMPERS
Tempers flared late in the fourth quarter after Fred Warner intercepted a fourth-down pass from Lock, leading to a skirmish following a lateral.
Warner and Metcalf were most involved, exchanging hits and then Metcalf grabbing Warner’s face mask and not letting go. Niners cornerback Deommodore Lenoir also got involved by giving Metcalf a two-handed shove, and both of those players got ejected.
INJURIES
Seahawks: CB Devon Witherspoon (back) left the game in the first quarter and didn’t return. … CB Artie Burns (knee) left in the second half and didn’t return.
49ers: CB Charvarius Ward (groin) left the game in the first quarter and didn’t return. … LB Oren Burks (knee) and DT Javon Hargrave (hamstring) didn’t return injury.
UP NEXT
Seahawks: Host Philadelphia on Dec. 18.
49ers: Visit Arizona on Sunday.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
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