49ers come up short in Seattle

SEATTLE -#8212; The visitors' locker room at CenturyLink Field is a bit confusing, with unmarked exit doors in several directions. Swiveling his head left and right after the game, 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree asked, "How do we get out of here?"

Crabtree, of all people, should know how the 49ers get out of the postseason -#8212; on off-target passes into the end zone.

Last year, it was a fourth-down incompletion to Crabtree that ended the Niners' hopes in Super Bowl XLVII. Sunday, Colin Kaepernick's timing pass to No. 15 hung up long enough for Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman to tip it, and linebacker Malcolm Smith intercepted to end San Francisco's final threat.

The Seahawks won 23-17, advancing to their second Super Bowl, this one against Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in New Jersey.

"It was a 15-round fight, right down to the last," 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said.

The Niners took this one on the chin, knocked into another painful offseason. They won road games at Green Bay and Carolina in these playoffs, but winning here proved to be a tougher task, even after the 49ers built leads of 10-0 in the second quarter and 17-10 in the third.

Sherman, who played for Harbaugh at Stanford and seems not to care for the man, savaged Crabtree afterward, saying, "When you try to throw to a mediocre receiver against the best cornerback in the game, that's what happens."

It's a remark that will no doubt add to this blossoming rivalry, as will the game. It was the 49ers' third consecutive loss at Seattle; during that same time frame, they have lost to the rest of the NFL just four times.

A CenturyLink record crowd of 68,454 saw the Niners start strong but ultimately fade. They also saw a hard-hitting game that claimed several players -#8212; including linebacker NaVorro Bowman, possibly San Francisco's best player, who suffered a devastating knee injury in the fourth quarter.

The record-setting decibel level at this stadium was a popular topic of conversation leading into the game, but the 49ers found a way to tamp it down -#8212; by forcing a key turnover on the first play from scrimmage.

Aldon Smith stripped Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson of the ball, then recovered the fumble at the Seattle 15-yard line just 10 seconds into the game. The 49ers' offense couldn't capitalize, and they settled for a short field goal by Phil Dawson.

The Niners' upped their advantage to 10-0 in the second quarter when they mounted an 86-yard drive. Anthony Dixon appeared to end the possession on a dive into the end zone from the 1, but the touchdown was overturned on a replay review. So the 49ers gave it to Dixon again on fourth-and-1, and this time he cracked the goal line.

Kaepernick seemed well on his way to another legend-making performance, running for 98 yards in the first half. Most of that real estate came on scrambles. The Seahawks left the middle of the field open, and Kaepernick took advantage with his loping strides.

"We were forced to keep our eyes on him," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. "We had to play more zone (coverage) just to make sure we could see him and come out of coverage to tackle him, and he still ran against us when we were playing zone in the first half. But we thought that would be the best idea to try to keep him in check a bit."

The game seemed to shift in the second half. The home team did a better job of containing Kaepernick, and Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch finally started to get loose. Held to 33 yards on 12 carries in the first half, Lynch would end up with 109 on 22 attempts, including a 40-yard scoring burst early in the third quarter that tied the game at 10-10.

The game-altering play came with 13:52 left and the 49ers nursing a 17-13 lead. Carroll sent his field-goal team onto the field on fourth-and-7 from the San Francisco 35-yard line, but during a timeout Seattle kicker Steven Hauschka told his coach that he didn't feel confident attempting a 53-yard field goal.

So Carroll put the ball back in the hands of his offense. Realizing he had a free play when Aldon Smith jumped offside, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw deep to Jermaine Kearse in the end zone. It was a perfect strike, and Kearse hauled it in over 49ers cornerback Carlos Rogers to give Seattle its first lead at 20-17.

The Seahawks added a field goal at the 3:43 mark, sandwiched between those Kaepernick interceptions.

The 49ers had logged late game-winning drives in the final regular-season game at Arizona, and the first playoff game at Green Bay, and many of them were convinced this was going to be another comeback story.

"I thought it was," left tackle Joe Staley said. "We've kind of been doing this the last six weeks. Felt very confident going out there. Just came up short."

The final day of the season comes too soon for 31 NFL teams. But when the sting subsides a little, the 49ers will realize they retain a strong nucleus of talent and might have more title games in their future.

"To twice come up short in the NFC championship, you just realize how hard it is to win it," linebacker Patrick Willis said. "You wonder how much more work, how much harder you have to fight to make sure you get this opportunity again and take it.

"That's all you can do: Stay together as a team, go into this offseason heads up, and work .

.

. and work .

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. and work."

You can reach Staff Writer Phil Barber at 521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com.