Emmanuel Acho had a simple request for FOX viewers stuck watching the wrong game. While the 49ers and Seahawks played a divisional contest that saw Dre Greenlaw ejected in the second quarter, the network lingered on an earlier East Coast game that had gone to overtime.
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Acho, who was fired by the network in July during a massive overhaul, publicly pushed for the live action to take priority.
“I’m begging FOX to realize we don’t want “bonus coverage”; we want to watch the @49ers and the @Seahawks !!,” Acho posted on X.
Sunday’s showdown between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks was supposed to be the main event, but a lot of fans across the country never saw how it started.
The 49ers and Seahawks were set to kick off at 4:25 p.m. ET, and FOX had billed it as its featured game of the week. Kevin Burkhardt and former NFL quarterback Tom Brady were in the booth, which made it one of the network’s biggest matchups of Week 5.
But the Giants and Commanders game ran into overtime and finished in a 27-27 tie. Since FOX stayed with it, lots of viewers around the country couldn’t get to the 49ers and Seahawks, even though the game had already started.
Viewers missed Renardo Green’s interception of Sam Darnold, Brock Purdy’s touchdown pass to Mike Evans, Jacob Cowing’s muffed punt that led to a turnover, and Seattle’s first score of the game.
Viewers had to wait until the Giants and Commanders game ended in a strange 27-27 tie before FOX finally took them to Seattle. Even in the closing moments, the Washington players and coaches didn’t seem to know how much time was left on the clock, and perhaps that appeared more interesting for FOX to broadcast.
On the other hand, even NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers had no way out. Since the 49ers-Seahawks game was the local broadcast in their area, they were stuck with the overtime stalemate like everyone else, and many took to social media and forums to vent.
Only the Bay Area and Seattle markets likely caught the opening minutes, going by FOX’s usual priorities. The rest of the country watched the Giants and Commanders play out.
As for the game itself, Purdy led two late scoring drives to give the 49ers a 32-29 win. He found Evans again and again on the drive that put San Francisco ahead, then marched the Niners down the field once more for a 43-yard field goal by Eddy Pineiro with 1:56 left.
It was a playoff rematch, and the win moved the 49ers to 5-0 while Seattle dropped to 3-2.
It also felt like a little payback. Seattle beat San Francisco twice late last season, including a 41-6 blowout in the divisional round, when the Niners were missing a lot of players. This time the 49ers were healthier on defense and had Evans, who signed with them in March.
That was a big reason Purdy could deliver when it mattered. Purdy finished 19 of 29 for 189 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, and almost all of that came in the fourth quarter.
The game was messy in the best way. It had seven combined turnovers, the most in the NFL this season, along with the ejection of 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw. No touchdown drive went longer than 25 yards until San Francisco took over trailing 26-21 late in the third quarter.
“That’s what we expected, honestly,” Niners linebacker Fred Warner said. “It was going to be a heavyweight bout. Seattle, they’re the guys who won it all last year, and they’re ones that you have to go through.”
Seattle still had one last chance. Jaxon Smith-Njigba dropped a third-down pass from the 50 at the San Francisco 25, and on fourth down Malik Mustapha stopped Cooper Kupp one yard short of the first down.
So the fans who missed the opening minutes at least got to enjoy a great ending.