Instant analysis of 49ers’ 31-13 Thanksgiving night win over Seattle Seahawks

SEATTLE — Inside the 49ers’ victorious locker room, where players had cried after brutal losses here in past years, a turkey’s carcass sat on a bed of broccolini atop a silver platter late into Thanksgiving night.

Left tackle Trent Williams was among those who had devoured it, saying: “I thought it’d be dry and cold. That was damn good. They didn’t invite me to the picnic on the field. They probably thought I’d eat the whole thing.”

To Thursday night’s 31-13 victor went the traditional postgame feast, a reversal of a 2014 scene in which the Seahawks celebrated on the 49ers’ midfield logo at Levi’s Stadium.

The 49ers (8-3) have no holdovers from that season, so they delighted not in revenge but rather Thursday night’s fourth-quarter fury. No, they would not blow a 21-point halftime lead. Instead, they came away with a three-game win streak they’ll put on the line Dec. 3, in an NFC Championship Game rematch at the Philadelphia Eagles.

Quarterback Brock Purdy wasn’t ready postgame to turn his attention there — “Obviously it’s going to be a big one on the road. We know that. Everyone knows that.” — and instead was living in the moment. ” To be out with my teammates, after a win on the road, eating some turkey legs, it was fun,” Purdy said. “It’s something we’ll look back on and smile about.”

Purdy and six teammates huddled up around the turkey for NBC’s post-game picnic: Purdy, Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, Charvarius Ward, Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle, the latter of whom ran to the locker room with turkey on a silver platter.

McCaffrey had grabbed himself a turkey leg amid that postgame picnic, a just reward for two first-half touchdown runs that helped stake the 49ers to a 24-3 halftime lead.

But the game got tense shortly after halftime, when Purdy threw his first career pick-six to spark the Seahawks’ second-half comeback bid. The 49ers’ lead was down to 24-13 once Seattle kicked a field goal, which came after a momentum-seizing goal-line stand by a 49ers defense that emphatically took control of things.

As for Purdy, he rebounded in stellar fashion from the pick-six, by producing a better scoring pass: a 28-yarder to Brandon AIyuk with 7:51 remaining. That was the dagger to secure a two-game lead in the NFC West for the 49ers, who moved up to No. 2 in the NFC playoff chase past the Detroit Lions (8-3) and behind the Eagles (9-1).

“It’s not like, ‘Alright, I messed up and I have to prove to myself or my team that I can make a big play to get us back in.’ It’s nothing like that,” Purdy said of his touchdown pass. “We actually ran the ball pretty well that drive. For myself, it was to be smart with the ball, take what the defense gives me.”

He did just that one he spied the Seahawks’ safety sinking in coverage, allowing for Aiyuk to slip by “and I ripped it,” Purdy said.

Sandwiched around that clutch score were defensive heroics by the 49ers, including a third-down sack split by Bosa and Arik Armstead. Then, on the series after Aiyuk’s score, Bosa and Warner stopped the Seahawks’ Zach Charbonnet on fourth-and-1 from the 49ers’ 21.

Not to be overlooked was a third-quarter goal-line stand that forced the Seahawks to settle for a 30-yard field goal. Those defensive stops came from Dre Greenlaw (first-down tackle), Ambry Thomas’ pass breakup in the end zone (officials missed his pass-interference tug) and a third-down sack by Armstead and Javon Hargrave.

The 49ers finished with six sacks and 12 hits on already wounded quarterback Geno Smith. Bosa had two sacks and five hits. Other sacks came from Hargrave (1 1/2), Armstead (one), Tashaun Gipson (one) and Kevin Givens (half).

“It’s hard to put into words what our defensive line can do, but there are four or five guys on any given play can change the game with a sack,” said Gipson, a veteran safety who meshed well with first-time starter Ji’Ayir Brown.

Smith finished 18-of-27 for 180 yards. Ward and Thomas made plays to deny touchdown strikes to D.K. Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Ngjiba. Said Ward: “I was excited to be one of the players of the game to get a turkey leg. It felt amazing.”

“I didn’t feel tense (after Purdy’s pick-six) because our defense was playing lights out,” Williams said. “Even though we spotted them seven points, we knew it’d be hard for them to get 14 more the way our defense was playing.”

The Seahawks (6-5) have lost three of their last four and play at the Dallas Cowboys before again facing the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on Dec. 10.

Three touchdown runs in the first half — Samuel’s 2-yard scamper on the opening series, followed by two from McCaffrey — put the 49ers on the road to a rout. The 49ers also forced two first-half turnovers, a Thomas interception and Ronnie Bell’s fumble recovery of a muffed punt. The 49ers did not make much of those breaks, converting the two turnovers into nothing more than a Jake Moody field goal from 32 yards out.

Purdy, after posting a perfect 158.3 passer rating in Sunday’s 24-17 win over the Bucs, finished with a 86.7 rating by virtue of 21-of-30 passing for 209 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

McCaffrey’s two scoring runs gave him an NFL-leading 16 TDs this season, which already ties him for the fourth-most in a 49ers season, behind only Jerry Rice’s totals (23 in 1987; 17 in 1989 and ’95). McCaffrey finished with 114 rushing yards (19 carries), Elijah Mitchell chipped in with 39 yards (seven carries) and Samuel had 15 yards (four carries).

McCaffrey’s first score this game came on a 1-yard run to end a 45-yard drive. At that point, the 49ers had tallied 159 yards, and the Seahawks’ none. McCaffrey’s second touchdown run was an 8-yard scrambler up the middle in which he burst through six arm tackles, for a 21-3 lead 6 minutes before halftime. That drive stayed alive behind Purdy’s third-down completions to Kittle (11 yards) and Samuel (12 yards).

The game’s first turnover came when, with the 49ers up 14-3, Thomas intercepted Smith’s pass to  Lockett near the sideline at the Seahawks’ 42. The Seahawks’ second turnover happened 1:47 before halftime when Bell recovered a muffed punt at the Seahawks’ 22-yard line.

For the seventh time in 11 games, the 49ers’ opening drive paid out with a touchdown, this score coming on Samuel’s 2-yard run to cap a 71-yard, five-minute march. Purdy opened with a 14-yard completion to McCaffrey, who later had a third-down conversion run followed by a 27-yard run to the Seahawks’ 17-yard line. Samuel’s first catch, a 10-yarder to the 3, set up his first run, the 7-0 ante. Also in the opening drive, Charlie Woerner made his first reception in two years, with a 9-yard effort near midfield.

The 7-0 lead almost evaporated immediately. Dee Eskridge returned the kick 66 yards, kept from going the distance by 49ers rookie Darrell Luter Jr. The Seahawks did get points, on a 51-yard field goal by Myers.

“We hit a lull in the third quarter, but our defense stayed on them and kept us where we could get out of the lull,” said left guard Aaron Banks, whose toe was healed enough to return from a two-game hiatus. “Our

HEALTH CENTER

The 49ers’ biggest injury concern came when George Odom, a special-teams ace and their lone backup at safety, was ruled out after halftime with a biceps injury. Ji’Ayir Brown was making his starting debut in place of Talanoa Hufanga, who sustained a season-ending knee injury in Sunday’s win over the Bucs.

With 5 ½ minutes left in the third quarter, Ward left with cramps in his right leg, but he returned the next series.

When the defense was on the field, Purdy sat on the bench with his surgically repaired elbow wrapped in a massage/heating pad. Purdy was not injured and the pad was used to keep his arm warm, as was the case last Sunday.