Life comes at you fast in the NFL. Eleven days ago, the Seahawks were among the ranks of the undefeated at 3-0, flying high in sole possession of first place in the NFC West. Now, they have fallen down to .500 with a record of 3-3 with three-straight losses. The latest outing? Losing to the San Francisco 49ers 36-24 for the sixth meeting between these teams in a row. This is also San Francisco’s third-straight win at Lumen Field on Thursday Night Football.
Once again, the Seahawks started a game entirely flat. This now makes it six-straight games Seattle has looked entirely ill-prepared, as they limped into the half trailing 16-3. The 49ers did not let their foot off the gas to start the third quarter, marching 70 yards in nine plays to take a commanding 23-3 lead.
The Seahawks did respond accordingly, as Laviska Shenault Jr. returned the ensuing kick off 97-yards to get Seattle into the end zone for the first time. After forcing a San Francisco punt, the Seahawks engineered a 13-play, 94-yard drive to cut the lead to only 23-17. Suddenly, Seattle appeared to have life, trailing by only one score headed into the fourth quarter.
But like last week, the comeback attempt ran out of gas. With under eight minutes to play, Geno Smith tossed his second interception of the night, San Francisco returned it to Seattle’s 15-yard line, and three plays later the 49ers found the end zone again.
During a last ditch effort, the Seahawks had another promising desperation drive, but it was plagued by untimely penalties. An illegal shift wiped out what would have been a 52-yard touchdown from DK Metcalf, but they did eventually find the end zone as Smith hit Tyler Lockett for a nine-yard touchdown. It was 29-24, 1:44 left in the game, and Seattle had all three timeouts left. Perhaps the Seahawks could pull off some magic late…
…or immediately give up a 76-yard run to Isaac Guerendo (another third-string running back to destroy this rush defense) which then led to a game-clinching touchdown two plays later.
In many ways, this was perhaps the most competitive the Seahawks have looked against San Francisco in the last six games. In others, they looked just as lost as ever, which is exceedingly frustrating when the Niners have looked nothing like the juggernaut we’ve been accustomed to with them. Even with the steps San Francisco has taken back, and the steps Seattle has taken forward, there is still a sizable gap between these teams.
Now the Seahawks and 49ers share a portion of first place, with the Niners technically ahead due to a head-to-head tiebreaker. Seattle is sinking quickly. They will have some much-needed time off to prepare for a road trip to Atlanta to take on the shockingly resurgent Falcons.
