Seattle Seahawks Report Card – Week 16

It’s tough to be too sad today. I know things went about as poorly as possible for the Seahawks this weekend (They didn’t get blown out, but they did lose and were officially eliminated from the playoffs), but it’s still the Christmas holiday. Agree with me or not, but I just have a hard time taking a sporting event too seriously on this week. So let just skip the commentary and jump straight to the grades:

Tarvaris Jackson: C-

Jackson played decently in the first half, then simply couldn’t get anything going in the 2nd. He finished with just 163 yards. The Seahawks needed Jackson to be able to make some plays down the stretch, and he simply couldn’t. Instead, he fumbled the ball away sealing the loss.

Marshawn Lynch: A

Lynch had a huge day, and definitely did his part to help the Seahawks win. Lynch was the first back in 36 games to rush for over 100 yards against the 49ers. He was also the first player all season to score a rushing TD against them.

Offensive Line: B

The offensive line did a great job opening running lanes and allowing the running game to get moving. The pass blocking wasn’t so solid, giving up 3 sacks, 8 QB hits, and a large number of hurries.

Rush Defense: C

It tough to grade this unit. They stopped Frank Gore for the most part and held him to a 3.6 yards per carry average. They also got run over by Hunter, including 73 yards in just 12 carries. The end result was 178 yards given up on the ground, which simply isn’t good enough. Brandon Mebane had an especially poor game. He was really pushed around at times.

Pass Defense: B+

There wasn’t enough pressure on Smith for most of the game, but the end results tell the story: 14/26, 179 yards. The pass defense was pretty solid for most of the game, and did enough to keep the 49ers out of the endzone for most of the afternoon. The Seahawks need to seriously upgrade their LBs this offseason, as yet another TE had a huge day against this defense.

Special Teams: D

It’s almost as if the Seahawks forgot what worked last week against the Bears. Instead of kicking the ball away from the dangerous returners like the did a week ago, they let the 49ers superior special teams beat them again just like in week 1. In a game that was ultimately decided by the oppositions 4 FGs, given them such good field position to start so many drives went a long way toward giving the Seahawks the win.

Coaching: C-

All season, the Seahawks have been a 2nd half team. Halftime adjustments have been one of the keys to every win the Seahawks have had. Instead in this game, they were dominated in the 3rd quarter, giving up a lead and letting the 49ers dictate the tempo of the game. If you include the special teams decisions (see above) and you have a fairly poorly coached game from what has been a solid group of coaches all year.