Seahawks week eight MVP: Bobby Wagner takes charge

The Seahawks returned to the win column against the 49ers, and no player had a bigger hand in that big win than the master of defense, Bobby Wagner.

The Seahawks needed a big win Sunday against their traditional rival, the 49ers. Russell Wilson was coming off his first bad game of the season – well, it was bad by his lofty standards. Still, Seattle was scoring. Unfortunately, so was the opposition. The 2020 edition of the Hawks defense seemed to need 40 points to make a game comfortable. Well, this week they put a stop to that, and no one was more responsible for the resurgence of defense than Bobby Joseph Wagner.

As for that Cardinals game, it’s hard to complain about 372 yards and three touchdowns, but Wilson’s three matching picks were all awful. Still, Seattle put 34 points on the board. Back in the glory days of the LOB, that would have been enough to win two or even three games. Sadly, any comparisons between those defenses and this year’s model are laughable. Seattle is dead last in first downs, passing yards, and total yards allowed.  They fare better in scoring defense, but 24th isn’t quite as good as first, now is it?

Bobby Wagner appears to have taken this decline in performance personally, as well he should. There were even whispers that his game had slipped. Since Pro Football Focus has him ranked second among all linebackers, I suppose that counts as a slip considering his ridiculous standards. Well, he erased any doubts about who’s the top dog among linebackers on Sunday. BWagz said it was time to eat, and he gorged himself on the Niners.

Bobby Wagner’s excellence against 49ers

Wagner led the Seattle assault on San Francisco with 11 total tackles, three of those for a loss. He practically set up a taco truck in the Niners backfield, as he had four quarterback hits and two sacks on the day. He’s been adamant that the Hawks needed to blitz more, and he got his wish. I think it’s safe to say that Jimmy G would have been just as happy if he had not.

I’m not ignoring the bounceback game for Russell Wilson. He was clearly back on his game with four touchdowns and zero turnovers. DK Metcalf clearly thought it was still Halloween, as he was an absolute monster. I’d say 12 catches for 161 yards and two scores is pretty good, yeah. Even more impressive was that he nabbed those 12 passes on just 15 targets.

But no one was more important to this win than Bobby Wagner. The 49ers only managed one scoring drive out of their first seven possessions. They’d managed just 81 net yards passing until garbage time started in the fourth quarter – and the entire fourth quarter was garbage time. The Seahawks haven’t had that luxury all year. Game MVP Bobby Wagner is the reason they could finally coast to a win.