Brandon Aiyuk didn’t hesitate when a reporter asked him to describe Brock Purdy’s fourth-quarter touchdown pass, a 28-yard bolt that hit him in stride and sealed the San Francisco 49ers’ 31-13 win over the Seattle Seahawks on Thanksgiving night.
“That,” Aiyuk said, “was what you call a dot.”
It was a strike of lightning at just the right time for the 49ers, who’d ridden an explosive start to a 24-3 halftime lead but needed one more punch to comfortably stave off Seattle’s comeback attempt. Purdy was eager to take the swing, even though coach Kyle Shanahan expected a more conservative approach based on the defensive alignment.
And it was emblematic of a key ingredient in the formula that the 49ers are using to throttle most of their opponents this season.
Put simply, this team is delivering more explosive pass plays than any other offense in the NFL. The 49ers defense is also preventing explosive passes at an elite rate. Put together, those two figures have translated into eight commanding victories for the 49ers, who now have the second-best record in the NFC with a return trip to challenge the conference’s leading team — the Philadelphia Eagles — coming next.
The exclamation point of the 49ers’ win in Seattle was Purdy’s delivery to Aiyuk
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