Kyle Shanahan won, but didn’t get an apology.

The league admitted it made a mistake when it ruled the Seattle Seahawks returner did not touch the ball during a fourth-quarter punt in the San Francisco 49ers’ 36-24 win Thursday night. One replay angle showed the ball hitting his hand, but the officials didn’t get to see that image before rejecting Shanahan’s challenge. The call not only allowed Seattle to retain possession, it also cost the 49ers a timeout in what would be a close game.

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“You don’t get a lot of excuses, but excuses aren’t that important,” Shanahan said Friday. “Once it happens, you have to move on with your life. I mean, apologies, don’t make it better. (I’m) just happy that it all worked out.

Shanahan’s defense had its busiest game of the season: 78 snaps versus 65 for the offense. Still, the 49ers won the battle for time of possession from 33:03 to 26:57 in a game that lasted 3:10 in part because of the replay review.

Here’s how the individual snaps were distributed:

Quarterback: Brock Purdy 65

The 49ers used more play action than this season, including the 76-yard touchdown pass to Deebo Samuel Sr. in the first quarter. According to Pro Football Focus, Purdy had only used play-action on 17.6 percent of his dropbacks heading into Seattle. On Thursday it was still 29 percent. Purdy has completed 72.2 percent of his passes for 453 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 132.9 passer rating when using play action this season. Without game action, he has completed 63.8 percent for 1,176 yards, seven touchdowns, four interceptions and a 92.6 rating.

The center of the field, which has been taken away by some opponents this season, was also available. Purdy was 4-for-6 for 59 yards on intermediate passes over the middle and was 5-for-8 for 48 yards on short throws over the middle.

The idea that Purdy’s passing totals will be boosted by his receivers after the catch? This season it cannot withstand the criticism. According to Fantasy Points Data, Purdy ranks 31st in percentage of passing yards coming after the catch at 33.7 percent. No. 1 in that category: Patrick Mahomes, Purdy’s counterpart from Week 7, who has seen 65.7 percent of his totals come after the catch.

Running back: Kyle Juszczyk (fullback) 42, Jordan Mason 18, Isaac Guerendo 17, Patrick Taylor Jr. 16, Samuel 6

Mason suffered a sprained AC joint during a run in the second quarter. Shanahan said Mason is being considered day-to-day heading into the Week 7 matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Meanwhile, Guerendo had the busiest outing of his career — 10 carries, 99 yards — while Taylor not only got his first carries of 2024, but also his first offensive snaps. During his 76-yard run, Guerendo said he heard calls from the 49ers sideline to go down, so he slid to Seattle’s 5-yard line. Those calls didn’t come from Shanahan, who wanted him to score on the play.

Tackle or slide? Slide, Isaac Guerendo said after the match. “I kind of had it in my head when I looked at the sideline and everyone was saying, ‘Go down!’, so I had to make a business decision.” pic.twitter.com/cTMFpiC7J5

— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) October 11, 2024

Wide Receiver: Brandon Aiyuk 62, Samuel 47, Jauan Jennings 34, Chris Conley 6, Jacob Cowing 1

After the game, tackle Trent Williams joked that he was afraid Samuel would get caught by edge rusher Boye Mafe during his long touchdown catch and run. After all, Mafe has excellent wheels, and the speed he reached on that play, 35.74 mph, was the fastest for a front seven defenseman over the past two seasons, according to Next Gen Stats.

However, Samuel had too much of a lead, reaching a speed of 33.90 mph during the game. That was his fastest pace since Week 14 in 2019, confirming what Samuel said over the summer: He’s in his best shape since his rookie season. He led all pass catchers with 102 receiving yards on Thursday.

76 yards.

Deebo was driving too fast 😮‍💨

📺 #SFvsSEA on @NFLonPrime
NFL+ // https://t.co/KTh0i4oaLh pic.twitter.com/JiSCwm9qKH

— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) October 11, 2024

Tight end: George Kittle 57, Eric Saubert 18, Jake Tonges 1

Kittle has become Purdy’s top target in the red zone. He has thrown five touchdowns to him near the goal line and two to Jennings. Every other 49ers receiver has zero. According to Fantasy Points data, Purdy has a rating of 140.9 when targeting Kittle. In contrast, his rating is 80 when he targets Aiyuk.

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Offensive line: Jake Brendel 65, Dominick Puni 65, Colton McKivitz 65, Williams 64, Aaron Banks 51, Spencer Burford 14, Jaylon Moore 1

Puni and Brendel combined to create the crease that Guerendo used during his stretch, and Puni emerged with a 90.5 run-blocking grade from PFF. To put that in perspective, the second highest mark was Saubert’s mark of 75.

Block pass? The rookie wasn’t as sharp with two pressures allowed. However, the offensive line did not give up a single sack on Thursday.

QB pressures allowed:

• Banks 4
• Brendel 2
• Point 2
• McKivitz 1
• Williams 1
• Saubert 1

Defensive line: Nick Bosa 68, Maliek Collins 59, Leonard Floyd 51, Kevin Givens 43, Sam Okuayinonu 32, Kalia Davis 31, Robert Beal Jr. 16, Evan Anderson 13

Bosa finished with 14 quarterback pressures, tying a career high he set against the Los Angeles Rams in 2022. The difference was he had two sacks in that game, none on Thursday.

“It’s a finishing company,” Bosa said when asked about the near-failures. “Especially when you’re me and you’re expected to be ready. There are a few close by where the ball was almost out of bounds, the game is over and I just have to keep going. It’s a long year and just watch the tape and try to finish it because that’s what players like me have to do.

Meanwhile, Okuayinonu and Anderson, who came against the New England Patriots in Week 4, had another modest snaps/high impact outing. The 49ers used Anderson in goal-line situations and he emerged with two quarterback pressures.

QB pressure

• Bosa 14
• Floyd 6
• Collins 4
• Okuayinonu 3
• Andersen 2
• Data 2

Linebacker: Fred Warner 78, De’Vondre Campbell Sr. 73, Dee Winters 12

Most of Winters’ snaps came as a third or strongside linebacker. There were five in the second half in which he replaced Campbell at weakside linebacker, a resumption of the follow-up play the 49ers began implementing in Week 2. Neither flourished Thursday as Campbell finished with two missed tackles.

Cornerback: Isaac Yiadom 77, Deommodore Lenoir 75, Renardo Green 71, Darrell Luter Jr. 3

Yiadom, Lenoir and Green stood out in Charvarius Ward’s absence, especially Green. The Seahawks targeted him 11 times and he gave up five catches for 57 yards, along with his crucial fourth-quarter interception. Geno Smith’s quarterback rating when targeting the rookie: 57.

Notably, Luter, who had been a healthy scratch until Thursday, came into the game for Rock Ya-Sin, who has been a special teams player so far this season.

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Safety: Ji’Ayir Brown 78, George Odum 58, Malik Mustapha 20

It was a rebound game for the 49ers safeties, who struggled on defense against the Arizona Cardinals four days earlier. Odum was particularly effective in relieving Mustapha (ankle) in the second half, finishing with five tackles and two pass breakups.

Special teams: Odum 20, Tatum Bethune 19, Beal 19, Jalen Graham 19, Eric Saubert 17, Tang 17, Jaylen Mahoney 15, Matthew Wright 14, Taylor 14, Conley 13, Winters 13, Luter 12, Mitch Wishnowsky 10, Taybor Pepper 10, Rock Ya-Sin 10, Guerendo 10, Okuayinonu 7, McKivitz 6, Puni 6, Moore 6, Nick Zakelj 6, Spencer Burford 6, Banks 5, Brown 5, Warner 5, Yiadom 5, Lenoir 5, Campbell 5, Collins 5, Givens 5, Green 4, Samuel 4, Cowing 4, Anderson 3, Bell 2, Bosa 1, Brendel 1, Floyd 1, Davis 1

Not every rookie came out of the game well. Mahoney appeared to have a chance to hit Laviska Shenault early on the returner’s long touchdown, but he was frozen on his approach. Worse, Graham fired at Shenault, barely knocking him off his stride.

Wright was 3-of-3 on field goals in his 49ers debut. But his kick-off was far below par. Only one of his attempts ended up in the end zone. The rest landed on the goal line or near the end zone, including the one that returned Shenault 97 yards. It landed on the 3-yard line.

Wright also suffered a dislocated shoulder during a tackle in the fourth quarter. A league source said that while an MRI on Wright did not come back completely clean, there is optimism that it is not a long-term problem.

Give it where it’s due: Luter’s knee caused a Shenault fumble in the second quarter. Wishnowsky, meanwhile, had downed three punts inside the 20-yard line, including one on the 6 and another on the 3 in the second half.

(Photo of Nick Bosa pressuring Geno Smith: Joe Nicholson / Imagn Images)