Seattle Seahawks: 5 takeaways from Week 17 win over 49ers

The Seattle Seahawks closed out the regular season with four straight wins.

The Seattle Seahawks rallied in the fourth quarter to avoid what would have been a disappointing end to the regular season. The Seattle defense once again put up an impressive performance. But, similar to Week 16, the offense got off to a slow start. That slow start almost derailed this game. The inability to put the ball in the end zone, as well as sustain drives, gave the 49ers ample opportunities to take over.

While San Francisco never ran away with the game, they did have a 10 point lead at one point in the fourth quarter. It is now back-to-back weeks where this Seattle offense hasn’t looked the same. They haven’t hit many explosive plays and as a result, they are punting more. Although they walked out of Arizona with the win, some 12s are concerned about the offense moving forward. While there is cause for concern, the backbone of this offense is Russell Wilson. As he proved in Week 17, he is capable of turning on the switch when need be as Seattle scored 21 fourth quarter points to secure the season sweep of the 49ers.

But, moving forward that switch will need to be flipped way earlier in the game. Here are 5 takeaways from the regular-season finale.

Time of Possession

In Week 16 against the Rams, Seattle won the time of possession in the 4th quarter. After the game, many credited the Seahawks defense for holding off the Rams offense for the entirety of the game. In fact, we praised the Seattle offense for being able to turn it on late in the fourth and put that game away with a long championship-style drive. But, in Week 17, the Seahawks once again lost the time of possession battle for the first three quarters and now, the reaction is slightly different. There is more concern pointed towards the offense.

The defense once again did its job for the majority of this game. Outside of the garbage time touchdown by San Fran with under two minutes remaining, they only allowed one touchdown. Similar to Week 16, the Seahawks offense was able to sustain championship-style drives in the fourth quarter to close out the game. But, again, there was a different reaction to this game.

Mainly because most felt the Niners shouldn’t have played Seattle close. Well, I don’t agree with that because records mean nothing. Especially, in divisional games. Another concern is that this Seattle offense has lost a step. Through the first half of the season, they were one of the top-scoring offenses in the entire NFL. Now, they are struggling to score over 24 points. That point is well taken and is granted, given the statistics of the last month.

People need to realize that this is Pete Carroll’s type of football. He prefers close, defensive battles. The only reason this Seattle offense was so explosive in the first half of the season was that the defense couldn’t guard anybody. As a result, Wilson was making more plays earlier in the game. I, for one, feel that this offense needs to get back to that sense of urgency. Ever since the defense has arrived, this offense hasn’t been as explosive. I understand the cause of concern moving forward. Although they continue to find ways to win, all we can do is hope that this offense starts each game with a high sense of urgency.