Well at least that’s over.
The Seattle Seahawks gave us a great high against the Denver Broncos on Monday, but that was a damn poor performance against the San Francisco 49ers. They very often looked worse than the 27-7 score would suggest, and even the few times they looked competent, they immediately undid any good they scored.
It’s the time of winners and losers.
winner
Al Woods
The Seahawks running defense is terrible. Al Woods is not. Big Al had three tackles for losses and was one of the few (if not the only) on the Seahawks’ defensive line to cause damage in the backfield. Woods also had a pass defended, which was cool because literally no secondary Seahawks player made one.
Uchenna Nwosu
The Seahawks only had four QB hits; Nwosu had three of them while Boye Mafe had the other (which I think was doubled as a “sack” which felt more like an attempted run). He was the standout pass rusher, not to mention his contributions in hitting passes and getting into run stops.
Tyler Lockett
On a day when the passing offense was generally lazy, Lockett was back at his best with 9 catches for 107 yards on 11 targets. He was an overall non-factor against the Broncos in Week 1, but he remains one of the best receivers at scramble practice and moving the chains efficiently.
Tariq Woolen
Aside from looking like he belonged on the field as a starting corner, Woolen was responsible for Seattle’s only touchdown thanks to a well-timed blocked field goal. A corner that can add to the defense as a starter and make plays on special teams possible? So far so good for the tower.
Michael Jackson
Two fumble recoveries last week, a scoop and a score for his first NFL touchdown this week. I’m not sure Jackson necessarily played well on the outside corner today, but I can’t beat a first TD that gave Seahawks fans brief hope.
loser
Shane Waldron
I mean, it’s almost entirely down to that DeeJay Dallas trick play bullshit. What the hell was that? Geno Smith just made a great play to put you in the red zone, and then it’s time for Wildcat to take the next two snaps? You must be joking. He was lucky that the previous snap with Kenneth Walker III even had positive yards and then they get too cute for their own good. It’s not 2008 anymore!
Brian Schottenheimer and Darrell Bevell named their own terrible trick plays that were intercepted, but this was a pivotal moment and with at least one field goal in the bag, they pissed around and converted it to 0 on a pass that never stood a chance.
I’m also very concerned about how DK Metcalf was essentially destined to be a possessor. This is the worst way to use DK. They don’t have to be deep shots, but they don’t have to be short passes that don’t have a chance to gain extra yards after the catch either. You have to find that out sooner rather than later.
Peter Caroll
The penalties, the bad offense, the bad defense, even the bad special teams before the blocked field goal return touchdown? As prepared as they looked against the Broncos — this looks tricky given how disorganized Denver was against the Texans — they didn’t show up against a Niners team that barely looked stellar. San Francisco barely needed to shift into second gear and it was as comfortable a win as one could hope for.
Credit goes to Pete and the rest of the coaching staff for such a messy display.
Darrell Taylor
He’s got a few TFLs in the running game, but he’s reportedly going after the quarterback. It was a futile exercise for the third-year man from Tennessee. He also had his ankles amputated on a Deebo Samuel in a 50-yard sprint. Taylor wasn’t good enough and there are early concerns about how effective he can be as one of the lead pass rushers.
Running blockage of the offensive line
No holes to speak of for Rashaad Penny or Kenneth Walker III, the latter of which was launched too awkwardly for my liking. They combined for 10 carries for just 25 yards. A lot of it was the OL’s ineffective run blocking, and Gabe Jackson in particular really had problems with blocking in general. I didn’t even think they were that bad against pass, but the rushing attack that was DOA meant the offense didn’t have a chance to develop.
Geno Smith
I don’t think Smith played terrible, but this:
According to Elias via @ESPNStatsInfoGeno Smith’s 80% completion rate is now the highest (at least 30 pass attempts) in a game in which a QB team failed to score an offensive point since individual player stats were first recorded in 1932.
— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) September 19, 2022
So I understand (although I disagree) the calls to start Drew Lock. Smith rarely challenged the 49ers’ defense on the field, and that offense just can’t work without explosive plays. Defensively, they try to limit explosive plays and as such are killed with loads of firecrackers rather than a giant stick of Acme Dynamite. Offensively, they can’t attack defense without hitting big plays, and now that the big play QB is in Denver, that’s what you’ll get if the Seahawks play strong defense.
It’s early days, but the more this offense gets stuck in the mud, the more likely we are to see Lock getting a shot at some point. Smith has had five starts with the Seahawks and they have yet to eclipse 300 yards in regulation — the only time they did so was the overtime loss to Pittsburgh.
Coby Bryant
He was victimized by the referees for a couple of tough penalties but needless to say he’s had a tough two weeks. I’d prefer he just kept learning on the job, but the Seahawks might have other ideas when Justin Coleman returns.
line of defense
The pass rush is hardly present. It looks like the last few seasons and at this point you have to focus on the quality of the roster and less on the defensive coordinators. Of even greater concern is how easily the 49ers OL destroyed the Seahawks in the trenches on runs, covering nearly 200 yards even when stuck in the 2nd half.
Perhaps the reason the Seahawks need to do “bend but not break” is less because they want to and more because they have to do it with the players at their disposal. They get physically crushed at the point of attack and just look terribly undersized (despite Al Woods). I don’t know if there will be a fix for this in the near future other than focusing on prioritizing heavily on restoring the DL rather than trying to make the LOB 2.0 a reality.
From Lucas
I have to use him here for the penalty kick against the ineligible man downfield who took away DK Metcalf’s wonderful deep shot. It wasn’t a good day for him in general, but it was awesome. He and Charles Cross always had tough duties against the 49ers’ defensive line, so I’m not too upset.
Dee Eskridge
This is less for performance and more a concern that he’s not even out there for kick and punt return duties, which he had preseason and in college. Eskridge’s only goal was the final regulation game. Tyler Lockett is the punt returner and Lockett hasn’t returned a punt in a couple of years. What does Eskridge actually offer at this point? This 2021 draft looks like a blank unless Tre Brown can contribute after returning from injury.
Closing remarks
- All the best to Trey Lance. It was such a brutal injury and I wish him the best as he recovers and won’t be back until 2023.
- The Seahawks defense has had just 3 interceptions from their outside or slot cornerbacks in their last 20 games. They all competed against the Detroit Lions and noted superstar Tim Boyle. And most of the time, unless it’s Quandre Diggs, they’re not even close to getting picks anyway. Red zone defense is cool and all, but I don’t like death by a thousand cuts. It sucks to see more than one three-and-off offense. Clint Hurtt’s unit played better in the 2nd half, but overall I felt they were pretty subpar.
- Pete Carroll should have even tried deep in his own territory on the 4th and 1st to start the 4th quarter. I know he would never do that, but it was 20-7 and effectively returning the ball was surrender. Because of the probability of winning, it was more advisable to try and they didn’t. On the other hand, I’m not sure if that offense would have taken more plays than necessary.
- I already told you that this team will have blowout games that look exactly like this. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be upset, but you have to anticipate the inability. And don’t be surprised if they later lose against bad teams like the Falcons or Panthers, because bad teams also lose against other bad teams. Sometimes they pull surprises! That’s the hard truth about the 2022 Seahawks. You have to take a longer-term approach, and that means getting through a few lousy days like this.