The Seattle Seahawks’ first loss of the season came to the San Francisco 49ers, the loss that confirmed they would not win the NFC West came to the 49ers, and their last loss of the season is at the 49ers. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but what we saw in 180 Minutes is an inferior roster in the midst of a reorganization, being thrashed by a team with an elite roster and an A+ offensive scheme.
I felt no pain or anger over that playoff loss, as I did with almost every postseason loss in the Russell-Wilson era. Even though the game was tight, I was happy that they were competitive at all for as long as they were. This felt more like the 2010 Seahawks when they were crushed by the Chicago Bears in a snowstorm, but the way the season was unfolding gave hope that things were about to change for the better. Seattle was in dire need of a franchise quarterback this year…maybe they have one right now? And either way, there are a lot of pieces in place to make this team great again.
Another winner and loser of the year.
winner
DK Metcalf
After back-to-back quiet games in must-win situations, Metcalf shot out today. He finished the game with 10 catches for 136 yards and 2 touchdowns, although some of those were in trash time, but when the game was close he had 6 catches for 100+ yards and that 50-yard TD over Charvarius Ward. Metcalf has only made four playoff games, but he’s already making his mark on NFL history.
Metcalf has been outstanding and that’s what he can be at his best if used properly.
Kenneth Walker III
For some reason Walker wasn’t used much in the 2nd half and I suspect he was injured. Otherwise, we’ve seen far too much DeeJay Dallas. Walker finished the game with 63 yards on 15 carries and a quick touchdown, and he was physically fit and fought hard for extra yards all game. Those might not be great numbers, but when you factor in excellent running defense, it was a lot better than expected.
Jason Myers
No misses and he nailed a 56-yard field goal just before halftime that put the Seahawks ahead. It will be interesting to see if he retains this season as a free agent after missing just four kicks all year.
Uchenna Nwosu
The only Seahawks defensive end worthy of praise today. He had three losing tackles against the run and one of the whopping three QB hits the Seahawks scored against Brock Purdy. He was an excellent signing and I’m hoping the Seahawks can improve on the pass rush and really allow him to feast.
1st half Geno Smith
9/10 for 104 yards and a beautiful touchdown pass to DK Metcalf. He also struggled for a first down and another scramble resulted in a penalty that resulted in a field goal. Against this 49ers defense, you take what you can and
loser
Pete Carroll, Clint Hurtt and everyone else related to this Seahawks defense
The Seahawks’ defense saved the season by shutting down the New York Jets and Los Angeles Rams. These crimes stink. The 49ers offense scored on all but two possessions and one of them was knee time. Seattle was bottom 5 in EPA/Play and that’s on a really soft schedule for much of the season.
It was a comically inept performance, with almost nothing going right. If Brock Purdy hadn’t occasionally thrown an unpredictable ball without pressure, this could have been an all-time hit. They’ve done absolutely nothing well except for a few running gear. Clint Hurtt’s job is probably secure, as are his assistants, but I wouldn’t be shocked if a change were made at any level on the defensive side of the ball.
We’re essentially five seasons past the LOB and I don’t see the vision of Pete Carroll ever putting together a top 10 defense again. They have invested so much draft capital through trading Jamal Adams, trading Jadeveon Clowney, trading Sheldon Richardson, taking LJ Collier, Marquise Blair, Cody Barton, Lano Hill, Tedric Thompson and a host of other moves that contributed to this misfortune. We’ve had three defensive coordinators from 2017 to now. The only constant is Pete, who has had more positives than negatives for me as a coach this year, but that one big negative has killed the team year after year.
I think you can argue that Woolen, Coby Bryant and Boye Mafe’s promise is reason to believe Pete can solve other parts of the defense and they’ll be great again soon. I don’t know if it’s 100% a roster issue. Seattle needs to work hard on that defense, but perhaps the best way for them to fight is to have a top-three offense so they can get past terrible defenses more often than they currently do.
Cody Barton
Wow. I’ve been praising Barton for his improved game over the past few weeks, but that was the reality check against an elite offense. That was one of the worst plays I’ve ever seen from a linebacker. Missed tackles, bad angles, too slow to chase ball carriers and the Piss de Resistance was this absurd play where he basically attacked Tariq Woolen with a critical 3rd down instead of Deebo Samuel. Linebacker depth is required. Poorly.
Tariq Woolen
I’m sure New York Jets fans, who as usual didn’t get to see a playoff game, were thrilled when Woolen had the worst game of his young career. He has been teased frequently, whether in zone or man coverage, and route traversal continues to be a problem for him. The dagger was the play-action deep ball to Jauan Jennings, who caught Woolen and failed to get Quandre Diggs to the throw in time. It’s still a phenomenal year for Woolen and the best is yet to come, but Kyle Shanahan basically made him a liability.
Coby Bryant
Coping with drills for Coby this offseason. Lots of it. The same is likely true for Michael Jackson, but Bryant reckons he has the long-term future with the team, and for all we know, Seattle may consider moving Coby outside and having someone else work in the slot.
Jonathan Abram
Abram didn’t twist Deebo Samuel’s leg like he did on the FOX show, but he still grabbed it unnecessarily and that was inappropriate. Flip the teams and I think we’d be furious if that happened to, say, Tyler Lockett or DK Metcalf. It seems like that started a fire among the 49ers.
Damien Lewis
You can complain about the ticklish, illegal downfield penalties and whether they should be taken literally, but he committed three of them, and at least one of them seemed legitimate. He had one game where he obviously started wrong, the 49ers saw it and showed when the ball was snatched Lewis was still on his stance and it destroyed a run game. It’s been a solid season for Lewis, but after halftime he really lost weight.
2nd half Geno Smith
I thought Geno was fine in the 2nd half up to the turnovers. The interception doesn’t matter because it was 38-17 and the game was pretty much over. That fumbling killed any chance of a comeback and it couldn’t have come at the worst possible time. Smith had 11 turnovers after bye week and an overwhelming majority of his giveaways resulted in opposition points. I think Geno will stay in Seattle next season, but ball safety needs to be better – Pete has had a history of freaking out over turnover issues with quarterbacks. All in all, I’m still impressed with how Geno’s season has gone and have a lot of respect for how he’s transformed his career.
It’s fair to ask if 2023 Geno can be better than 2022 Geno. Can the Seahawks get a QB who will be better in 2023 than 2022 Geno? Maybe, but a rookie is unlikely to play out of goal like a top-12 guy right away. Can the Seahawks get a QB likely to be better than the best version of Geno? Possibly, but that’s another discussion on if/when they take a QB later this year.
Closing remarks
- Shane Waldron called a good game without the bizarre DeeJay that Dallas wears. Six was too many against this defense. Sometimes the other team is just better and the 49ers defense is a nightmare matchup against that Seahawks roster. The offensive line has held up much better than I expected compared to the previous two games.
- Tyler Lockett was strictly a possession receiver and as such his 6 catches for just 39 yards. Of course, he was taken away from one that loomed on the first downfield penalty from Damien Lewis, which was disallowed.
- Bruce Irvin got a sack and made a TFL against the run, but the 49ers took full advantage of it. Thank you for everything It’s time for the new generation to have their turn.
- Thank you to everyone who made this another great season for Field Gulls. For most of Seattle’s winning streak, we’ve had terrific site traffic, so much so that we’ve had fan shots like we did in the good ol’ days. This is my third season as Field Gulls site manager and first season in a full-time role, and while I would have loved it if the playoffs had lasted a little longer, we got the best of both worlds with the Seahawks’ wins and the Denver’s losses Broncos. Now we have one damn important NFL draft cover that could make or break this franchise for years to come, and you better believe we’ll have full coverage over the next few months leading up to the last week of April.