For Pete’s sake: Three Seahawks dropped the ball in Week 15

The Seahawks headed into Thursday night’s game with the Niners in desperate need of a win. Well, at least they’re at .500. Technically, more than three Seahawks dropped the ball, but we’ll get to that soon enough.

Let me begin by saying that the Seahawks have already achieved far more than I expected, both individually and as a team. I felt the top end for wins would be nine, and that’s still within reach. At seven wins, they’ve matched last season’s win total. And that’s after moving on from two Hall of Fame players.

Still, this loss stings more than most. Four weeks ago, the Seahawks were in great shape to make an improbable playoff run at 6-3. I suppose we can console ourselves that at least the Niners are a good team, unlike the Raiders or Buccaneers, who also beat the Hawks in this miserable stretch. Not that there’s much consolation in that. At least it wasn’t as bad as the obliteration we watched back in September.

Seahawks couldn’t – yeah, you’ve heard this before.

You know the drill by now, right 12’s? Seahawks couldn’t do this, couldn’t do that. At least they changed it up for this game. While they still couldn’t stop the run, at least this week Seattle could run the ball. They just chose not to.

Or are 12 carries for Kenneth Walker III supposed to be enough? If the Hawks offensive line had been able to open a hole for more than a millisecond, Walker might have been able to break off a big run. As it was, his biggest play was a 33-yard catch and run that found him wide open in the flat.

More of those, please, Mr. Waldron, and fewer screens that begin with two wrong-colored jerseys inside Walker’s helmet the moment he catches the ball. When you total 32 yards receiving and your longest play was 33, there’s a problem.

The problem wasn’t with Mr. Walker; it was with the offensive line. They struggled to block on runs and brought ineptitude to new levels with their pass-blocking. Geno Smith was hit nine times, sacked three times, and called for intentional grounding to avoid a fourth.

He didn’t throw a pick, but that’s almost a miracle. He did in fact throw an interception but was saved by a penalty for roughing the passer. As much as I love the Hawks, that was a terrible call. So, let’s get on with the vivisection, 12s.

Geno was hurried on virtually every play, but he frequently threw behind receivers, too. Often, they were able to adjust to the ball and make the catch, that’s true. But too often, all they could do at that point was get slammed to the turf as a Niners defender was right on top of them. The great Bob Condotta graded Geno a B- in his report for The Seattle Times, but I have to say he’s being generous. Smith was average at best. I’d give him a C.

But his offensive line: oof. They allowed five tackles for a loss, on top of the constant pressure that Smith faced. Charles Cross, Damien Lewis, Austin Blythe, Gabe Jackson, Phil Haynes, and Abe Lucas, none of you get a car. Lucas has been great, but his holding penalty in the third quarter wiped out Dareke Young’s brilliant catch at the San Francisco two-yard line. The Hawks settled for a field goal instead.