Strong teams don’t allow leads to slip away time and time again. 49ers did that again last night in Seattle. 

Last night’s nail biter–the regular-season finale game between the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers–wasn’t pretty. We saw two flawed teams.

But the Seahawks’ flaws seem to come more from injuries than on-the-field play. They’ve lost three starting running backs, the team’s #1 tight end, a star offensive tackle, and their cornerbacks. To boot, Clowney on defense is believed to be playing hurt. Then, last night, they also lost receiver, Jaron Brown, in the first series of the game.  

The 49ers, on the other hand, are healthy with the exception of Tartt and Ford. They also had all of their starters, including Bosa and Staley for last night’s game–two players they didn’t have in the first Seattle matchup.

Why is this important to know?

A healthy Super Bowl-destined team (presumably the 49ers) doesn’t let a hobbled team come back–as Seattle did–in the second half of last night’s game 

The Niners dominate the first half, up by 13 at the break. But things changed in half two. Seattle’s offense picked up while the ‘Niners dropped off. Wilson led three touchdown drives to get the team in contention to win the game. 

With the game on the line and seconds to play, Wilson spiked the ball to stop the clock (he had no timeouts remaining). He then found Jacob Hollister, who was draped by Fred Warner. The ball hit Hollister’s face mask because he couldn’t move his arms to catch it! It was a ‘no-call’ instead, including a decision from New York not to review the play. An interference call would have given the ‘Hawks a first down near the goal line.

Then there was a costly delay of game, followed by Jacob Hollister’s catch, as he landed inches from the goal line. No TD was the call on the field, upheld in the booth, and the Hawks turned over the ball to San Fran on downs. 

What’s the takeaway from this game?

Strong teams don’t allow leads to slip away in over a third of their games–and that’s what San Francisco did again last night. Strong teams put a nail in the coffin and move on. They don’t constantly struggle to win. 

I think the 49ers are very fortunate to have clinched a bye. They need it! But, ironically, we might see San Francisco-Seattle #3 in two weeks in the NFC playoffs.

One thing for sure is there’s a team that knows how to get it done, and it’s led by the man who set the highest completion record in NFL history. On the flip side, here’s a friendly reminder to West Coast fans: All that glitters isn’t gold.