San Francisco 49ers RB Carlos Hyde solid in loss to Seattle Seahawks

SEATTLE -- Running back Carlos Hyde has battled injuries and offensive line woes for much of his career in San Francisco.

For much of Sunday afternoon, everything came together for the fourth-year running back.

Hyde ran for 124 yards and nearly spearheaded one of the biggest upsets of the early NFL season. In the end, his effort fell short in a 12-9 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

"I think the running game was something that you could be excited about: Carlos popping big runs (and) the offensive line doing a good job," quarterback Brian Hoyer said.

Hyde broke off two big runs to set up field goals as the 49ers pulled out to a 9-6 lead early in the fourth quarter. Hyde's 61-yard run late in the first half seemed to give San Francisco momentum in a game nobody expected the 49ers to win.

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Through the first seven quarters of the 2017 season, Seattle's offense had yet to score a touchdown. Quarterback Russell Wilson ended that drought at a good time when he hit wide receiver Paul Richardson on a 9-yard touchdown that gave the Seahawks a 12-9 lead with 7:07 remaining Sunday.

"We were able to convert, convert, convert on some big third downs," said Wilson, who ran for three first downs on the touchdown drive before avoiding two defenders on the pass to Richardson. "That's the key. We had some big conversions on third down. We got a little sloppy in the third quarter, for whatever reason, but we found our way."

Richardson bounced back from a dislocated finger he suffered in the first half.

He was one of the few bright spots on a rainy afternoon that saw Wilson miss his target on several occasions while targets Tanner McEvoy and C.J. Prosise each struggled with dropped passes.

While safety Earl Thomas had some choice things to say about the Seattle offense last week, the defensive players weren't pointing any fingers after the latest loss.

"Offense, they have a lot of new guys," Seattle defensive lineman Michael Bennett said. "So it's going to take a little bit of time to get that camaraderie."

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On an afternoon when Seahawks coach Pete Carroll groused about his receivers' inability to hang on to the football, the most important drop came off the hands of a 49ers receiver.

San Francisco's Marquise Goodwin dropped a second-down pass at the Seattle 10-yard line that could have given the 49ers a first-and-goal with 12 minutes left. Instead, San Francisco settled for a field goal to take a 9-6 lead with 11:36 left in the game.

"We got ourselves in position to win that game in the end, and in the moment of truth we didn't get it done in the passing game," 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said.

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While it went virtually unnoticed at the time, Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright may have made the most important play of Sunday's win when he tackled San Francisco tight end Garrett Celek short of the first-down marker with five minutes left.

That ended up being the 49ers' final offensive play. Seattle ran the clock out on its next possession.

"By the end of the game, it's all about toughness and who's going to fight longer," Seahawks center Justin Britt said of Seattle's game-clinching drive. "It's kind of up to the defense if they want to go out there and keep getting beat up."

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49ers safety Eric Reid limped off the field twice Sunday, leaving his status for Thursday's game against the Los Angeles Rams in the air.

Reid told reporters after the loss that he will get an MRI and that he did not know if he would be available Thursday.