49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks

Alex Smith threw three touchdown passes and the 49ers blew out the Seattle Seahawks 40-21 at Candlestick Park. Smith finished 17-of-27 for 255 yards. Brian Westbrook caught a touchdown. Vernon Davis caught two more. Patrick Willis intercepted Matt Hasselbeck twice. The 49ers' defense forced four Hasselbeck interceptions and held Marshawn Lynch to 29 rushing yards. The 49ers improved to 5-8 and stayed alive in the NFC West.[1][2][3]

Alex Smith threw three touchdown passes Sunday afternoon at Candlestick. The 49ers blew out the Seattle Seahawks 40-21 in the kind of home win where everything that had gone wrong all year, the quarterback play, the run game, the takeaways, all came together at once.

Smith finished 17-of-27 for 255 with a 130.9 rating in his return start. Brian Westbrook caught a touchdown. Vernon Davis caught two. Matt Hasselbeck threw four interceptions. Patrick Willis grabbed two of them. The defense forced six total turnovers. The team scored 40 in a single game for the first time since 1998.

5-8. The kind of Sunday at Candlestick that, mathematically, keeps the team alive in the NFC West. The Rams at 7-6 lead the division. The Seahawks fall to 6-7. A 49ers win at home against San Diego on Thursday would put the team within a game of first place with two to play. Singletary postgame called the performance the kind of football the team was capable of all year. The kind of statement that depends on the next three games to mean something.

49ers 40, Seahawks 21. Margin: +19. Thirteen-game record: 5-8, -37 differential.

* Alex Smith: 17-of-27 for 255, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, 130.9 rating (return start).
* Brian Westbrook: 1 receiving TD.
* Vernon Davis: 2 receiving TDs.
* 49ers D: 4 INTs of Hasselbeck (Patrick Willis 2), 6 total takeaways.
* Marshawn Lynch: 10 carries for 29.
* Matt Hasselbeck: 27-of-42 for 285, 2 TDs, 4 INTs.
* 49ers' 40 points: most since 1998.
* 49ers 5-8 (still alive in NFC West); Seahawks 6-7.

A 40-21 home blowout of the Seattle Seahawks at Candlestick. The 49ers improve to 5-8 and stay alive in the NFC West with three games to play.

How it unfolded

The 49ers scored on their opening drive with a Vernon Davis touchdown to make it 7-0. Seattle answered with a Hasselbeck touchdown to tie. The second quarter went 49ers touchdown (Westbrook reception), 49ers field goal, then a Patrick Willis interception of Hasselbeck that led to another 49ers touchdown to make it 24-7 at the half. The third quarter was a second Vernon Davis touchdown to make it 30-7. The 49ers added a field goal to make it 33-7. Seattle scored two garbage-time touchdowns to make it 33-21. The 49ers closed with a fourth-quarter touchdown to push the final to 40-21.

The turning point

Patrick Willis's first interception of Matt Hasselbeck in the second quarter. With the score tied at 7-7 and Seattle moving the ball, the pick led to the 49ers' second touchdown of the quarter and the kind of two-score lead the home team had not built all year.

By the numbers

Smith 255 passing on 27 attempts with three TDs and the 130.9 rating. Westbrook 87 receiving on 6 catches with a TD. Davis 6 catches for 86 with two TDs. Hasselbeck 285 passing on 42 attempts with two TDs and four INTs. Marshawn Lynch 29 rushing on 10 carries.

Personnel watch

Alex Smith's return start, the kind of throwing day the season's first eleven weeks never produced. Patrick Willis with two interceptions. Vernon Davis with two touchdown catches. Brian Westbrook with the receiving TD. The defense forcing six turnovers, the team's high-water turnover game of the year.

What it means

5-8 with San Diego at home on Thursday Night Football. The kind of home win that, in any other division, would just be a respectable finish. In the NFC West, it keeps the team within two games of first place with three to play. The Rams at 7-6 lead the division; the kind of division where 7-9 might actually win it.