49ers edge Seahawks in thriller to take control of NFC West

SEATTLE — It’s the greatest active rivalry in the NFL.And it produced another instant classic on cloudless fall Sunday at Lumen Field.Against the defense that has been his kryptonite, Brock Purdy took over trailing late in the third quarter and showed why he has firmly established himself in the MVP conversation.Purdy completed six of seven passes — four to Mike Evans for 75 yards — as the 49ers overcame a first-and-20 on their first play of the drive and another 11-yard penalty during a methodical 12-play drive.Purdy found Brandin Cooks in the back of the end zone, threw up a 2-point conversion to Mike Evans and the 49ers never looked back on their way to a thrilling 32-29 win that put them firmly in command of the NFC West.“That was the one drive that got us going,” coach Kyle Shanahan said after his team improved to 5-0 against the defending Super Bowl champions in a game that featured four lead changes, two ties, seven takeaways, one ejection and plenty more big hits and momentum swings.Until that point, the 49ers had failed to mount a scoring drive of more than four plays.Renardo Green picked off a pair of passes, Fred Warner forced one fumble and Gracen Halton knocked out another that he recovered in the end zone — all of their first 21 points came off turnovers.The key to beating Mike Macdonald’s defense? Turns out, it’s to fight defense with defense.Here are the other takeaways from the latest installment of the Seahawks-49ers rivalry:Turning pointsCooks, a childhood 49ers fan, got quite the introduction to his first game inside the rivalry.“You definitely see it from afar over the years,” he said, “but to be a part of it was definitely fun.”The evenly matched NFC West foes traded leads four times and tied the score two other times.

The largest advantage either team took was after Halton recovered the fumble he forced out of George Holani’s hands in the end zone to put the 49ers on top 21-13 in the closing seconds of the first ha...