Seahawks lose to 49ers in Week 15 and coaching changes are needed

The game may have stayed closer in the first half than it should have because of some odd 49ers decisions, but the Seahawks still got dominated in Week 15. I mean, who didn’t think the 49ers should go for it in the first half on 4th and 2 after getting an offsides call against Seattle? But they didn’t and that kept Seattle hopes alive. Plus, the final score of 21-13 was closer than the actual game was.

But those hopes were, to be clear and honest, hopeless. Seattle kept themselves in the game and it was 7-3 with less than 2 minutes in the first half. Then on what seemed to be a promising drive for Seattle, Travis Homer fumbled on a pass reception that would have resulted in a first down. The 49ers recovered and ran the ball back inside Seattle’s 10-yard line. San Francisco scored a touchdown two plays later.

This came after Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs should have had an interception but dropped the ball. He had yards in front of him to return it, too, and the ball would have been picked around the 50-yard line. Seattle simply isn’t talented enough to make simple mistakes against a very good team. And the 49ers are just better than Seattle right now.

Seahawks drop to 7-7 with loss to 49ers in Week 15

The second half was just awful, though. The outcome was inevitable and even when the 49ers had a big lead – which they did after their opening drive in the third quarter involved a 54-yard touchdown pass and made the score 21-3 – Seattle’s offense couldn’t sustain anything. That’s the frustrating part. Even when a team might relax a little once they have a big lead, Seattle can’t take advantage, at least not until very late in the game.

I like Pete Carroll a lot. He is a very good football coach. We may have also reached the point, though, where to get beyond the Seahawks simply being good and actually be near-great, Seattle needs new energy from the head coach.

And with a head coach who isn’t afraid to truly tear down the defense. Seattle’s defense is a mess and the issue isn’t all personnel. If a team is running the same plays with success over and over, as the Panthers did in Week 14, and no changes are made schematically, that’s just bad coaching.

But back to Week 15. San Francisco is just a better team than the Seahawks. This game should have been worse except the 49ers didn’t go for it twice on fourth down when they could have (should have?). It always seemed like a minor miracle when the 49ers chose to punt. Still, the 49ers finished with 381 total yards to Seattle’s 277 and held the ball for 6 minutes longer.

Seattle will have better talent in 2023 because they will have high draft picks. But does that mean by 2024 the team will be a Super Bowl contender? Nope. It just seems like they are stuck in the awful middle-ground of being slightly better than mediocre but never good enough to be dangerous. And there won’t be any postseason for Seattle in 2022 because they don’t deserve to make the playoffs.