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.
Seahawks had to play mistake-free, and Travis Homer made a big one
Listen, I agree with you. A lot went wrong with this game. As Lee Vowell wrote, the offense couldn’t sustain drives and the Niners actually played it safe a few times, or the score could have been much worse.
And there were certainly some questionable coaching decisions. Like, how does Ken Walker get just six carries in the first half, when it was 7-3 until there was less than a minute to play? Mind-boggling. I thought this was the team that ran the ball too much.
I have to preface this statement with another: Travis Homer is a very good player. No, he didn’t pick up many yards against Carolina last week, it’s true. Please refer to the previous comment about the offensive line for more on that. I can’t blame the coaching on this, either. Walker can’t be in the game for every play, and Homer is the third-down specialist. It made perfect sense for him to be in the game (even though it was second and five).
Yes, it was a solid hit. Two solid hits, in fact, and Niners linebacker Dre Greenlaw punched the ball out with the precision of Muhammad Ali. But you cannot fumble the ball, regardless of the play.
I’m not saying Homer is a bad player. I’m not even saying it was a bad play on his part. But the fact remains he fumbled the ball, and two players later, the 7-3 ballgame was 14-3 with less than a minute on the clock. Homer will make great plays for the Seahawks again, I have no doubt. But this was a pivotal play in a game Seattle desperately needed to win.
Quandre Diggs dropped the ball for the Seahawks
I’m much more accustomed to writing about a great play by Hawks free safety Quandre Diggs. Sadly, that is not the case this time. As much as Homer’s fumble cost Seattle, it pales in comparison to the mistakes we saw from Diggs. He literally had the game in his hands and dropped it.
On 3rd and 11 at his own 36, 49ers QB Brock Purdy dropped back and launched a rocket over the middle. Said missile found itself in the hands of Quandre Diggs. It appeared that he chose this moment to switch sports to volleyball, as he popped the ball three yards ahead of him for a perfect set. Diggs will make that interception in almost any other game. In fact, he has done so 13 times for Seattle coming into this season. Trust me, he’s beating himself up for this miscue far more than anyone else.
Sure, the Niners had to punt the ball anyway. But If Diggs makes the play, the Hawks would have had the ball at the fifty at least, and possibly far deeper into 49er territory. Maybe Seattle still throws the same pass to Homer, and maybe he loses the ball. But he wouldn’t have coughed it up in Seattle territory and given the Niners a two-play touchdown drive.
If that wasn’t bad enough, two of San Franciso’s three touchdowns can be laid at Diggs’ feet. Somehow, the Seahawks forgot that George Kittle is still one of the league’s best tight ends. This is despite the fact that he came into the contest with 41 catches in nine games. Somehow, Kittle was wide open not just once, but twice on each of his touchdown catches. Diggs may not have had the initial assignment, but he might as well have been in Yakima.
As I wrote at the beginning, if you’d told me back in early September that the Hawks would be 7-7 with four games to go, I’d have been ecstatic. Geno Smith had his issues last night, but he’s been a godsend for this team. The offensive line has its issues, absolutely, but it’s anchored by two rookies that will only get better. Homer and Diggs have made huge plays in the past, and they will again. But for this game, they simply couldn’t get it done.