A 43-yard field goal from Eddy Pineiro, splitting the uprights with 1:56 left on the clock, lifted San Francisco past Seattle 32-29 on Sunday after Brock Purdy had directed two fourth-quarter scoring drives to pull the 49ers back into contention.

A five-game winning streak at the start of the season offered some perspective on San Francisco's standing against Seattle in the NFC West the year before, a stretch in which the 49ers dropped two late contests to their divisional opponent — one of them a 41-6 playoff defeat played out with a depleted roster. With a fuller roster available than in their previous encounter, San Francisco controlled enough of the contest for Purdy to come through at a decisive moment, pushing the team's record to five wins from five to open the campaign — a feat the Niners had managed twice in the prior seven seasons.

Seven turnovers between the two sides — a total that stood as the highest recorded across the NFL season to that point — along with the ejection of San Francisco linebacker Dre Greenlaw and a stretch of play in which no scoring drive covered more than 25 yards, had shaped the contest by the time the 49ers took possession trailing 26-21 late in the third quarter.

Facing a second-and-21 hole created by an intentional grounding call, Purdy guided the offense down the field against Seattle's defense, connecting with Mike Evans on a 28-yard completion along the way. Cooks gathered in a short throw from Purdy at the goal line, and when Evans completed the two-point attempt, San Francisco's total climbed to 29 against the visitors' 26.

A field goal from a drive Darnold orchestrated brought the scores level, before Purdy moved the 49ers 43 yards in the opposite direction to set up Pineiro's go-ahead kick. With Seattle's rally exhausted on that final possession, a third-down throw from midfield slipped through Smith-Njigba's hands, and Mustapha's tackle then left Kupp a yard short of the marker on the ensuing fourth-down attempt.

Of his 29 pass attempts, Purdy connected on 19, totalling 189 yards, throwing for two touchdowns while surrendering one interception. Across two consecutive matchups with Seattle's defense that season, San Francisco's offense was held without a touchdown on either occasion.

Three touchdowns put them ahead 21-13 at the half, with the defensive unit accounting for a considerable share of that advantage. Two turnovers worked in San Francisco's favour — Green's first interception of the game opened a short field that Purdy converted with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Evans, while Mustapha's fumble recovery at the Seattle 11-yard line put McCaffrey in position to punch it in on the very next snap.

With 18 seconds left before halftime, Seattle's decision to run the ball from deep inside their own end zone handed San Francisco a 21-13 advantage when the play broke down. A fumble dislodged from Halani's grasp by Halton bounced into the end zone, where Halton gathered it up to complete the scoring play.

A Darnold interception at the start of the third quarter set Seattle's possession in reverse, and when Pineiro attempted the resulting field goal, the kick came up short. A 43-yard Myers field goal trimmed Seattle's deficit to five points, then Pritchett's interception of Purdy handed the Seahawks possession at their own 23-yard line, where Darnold connected with Smith-Njigba on a 16-yard throw to put Seattle ahead 23-21. A fumble by Samuel on the following possession handed Seattle's kicker Myers a straightforward opportunity, and the resulting three points pushed the Seahawks' advantage out to 26-21.

Greenlaw drew an ejection after making contact with Seattle's Ernest Jones IV with his head, a response to what officials ruled a late hit near the Seahawks sideline. A late-hit penalty arose in the second quarter, with Greenlaw drawing the flag for contact on Darnold after the quarterback had already crossed the boundary line. A personal foul call came down against Greenlaw during the contest.

Greenlaw's response to being surrounded by Seahawks defenders was to drive his head into Jones, who had no helmet on at the time. A cut opened on Jones following the contact, and Greenlaw was removed from the game by officials. On at least two prior occasions during his career, Greenlaw had been removed from the game by officials.

A hamstring strain forced Samuel from the game after he lost possession of the ball on that play, with no subsequent return to action.

A Monday fixture on October 19 puts Washington on the road to face the 49ers at their home ground. On Thursday night, Seattle heads to Denver for the matchup.