Troy Aikman has seen a lot of football. So when you listened to the ESPN analyst calling the Seattle Seahawks-San Francisco 49ers showdown in Week 18, you could tell something was not going to plan.
This was supposed to be a knockdown, drag-out battle for the NFC West and top seed in the entire conference. It became increasingly clear from the first quarter on that this was, in fact, a mismatch.
Seahawks’ fans may well have been worried when Mike Macdonald eschewed a field goal on the opening drive and attempted a low-percentage fourth-and-goal play from the four-yard line. Sam Darnold’s pass fell incomplete, and momentum seemed to swing to the home team.
Troy Aikman knew the Seattle Seahawks versus the 49ers was a mismatch early on in Week 18
This was San Francisco, the same team that had knocked Seattle out the last time they had met in the playoffs. The same team that won at Lumen Field in Week One. The same team that had sent Seattle to defeat in seven of the last eight games the teams had played. Was that blown opening drive an omen?
Turns out, it was just a minor blip.
Of course, what actually happened was that Seattle’s suffocating defense forced a three-and-out, and three plays after the 49ers’ punt, Zach Charbonnet gave the Hawks a 7-0 lead. As it turns out, that was all they would need.
The tone in Aikman’s voice began to suggest what was going to happen less than ten minutes into the game. Seattle had just gotten the ball back in tremendous field position and had run a couple of plays, but the color commentator was still talking about the Hawks’ defense.
In praising the job Mike Macdonald has done this year, he noted how much the Hawks’ run defense has improved: "That’s going to be a problem for San Francisco if they can’t get something on the ground.”
He hit a note in the word “something” that stood out. It became clear long before the first quarter was over that Aikman was seeing major trouble ahead for a 49ers offense that had been unstoppable in its last three games. He said "something" the way you say it when you know there is really nothing that can be done.
On the next play, Zach Charbonnet ran for Seattle’s only touchdown.
A few minutes later, again just listening to Aikman’s voice, you could tell that this game was over. Seattle’s defense once again stuffed Purdy and company, forcing the second straight three-and-out. On the first play of Seattle’s third drive, Kenneth Walker broke another big run to the right behind Abraham Lucas and Anthony Bradford.
Aikman noted fine blocking by left guard Grey Zabel. Then he pointed out that left tackle Josh Jones was also out in front but couldn’t even find someone to block.
And he chuckled.
If you heard that chuckle and you recognize how well Aikman understands football, that was it. This game was over. There were still two minutes left in the first quarter.
The announcers wouldn't say it outright, but before halftime, they were repeating how big a hole the 49ers were in, even though it was only a 10-point game. Both Aikman and partner Joe Buck were tossing around words like "exceptional" and "impressive" when describing the Seahawks’ defense.
There were too many “greats” to count. Before the night was over, there was at least one “suffocating.”
It was so bad in the second half that Aikman and Buck spent a lot of time commiserating with Kyle Shanahan about how beaten down his team was.
But it was that laugh that really said all you needed to know. The fact that it came on an offensive play was telling. Everyone knows the Seahawks have a very good defense. On Saturday, the surprise was that they had a dominant offense as well. One good enough to make an announcer like Troy Aikman chuckle in disbelief at what he was seeing.
I stopped worrying after that. We’ve all seen games where a team dominates early but doesn’t score enough points, and that ends up biting them. This was not that kind of game. Seattle was clearly a much better team on Saturday night. They outgained the 49ers by better than a two-to-one margin. They held the ball for almost 40 minutes.
They held a team that was averaging well over 400 yards and almost 40 points per game in the month of December to 173 yards and three points. They bludgeoned a defense that had given up 108 yards per game on the ground for 180 yards.
Jason Myers picked a good time to have his worst game of the year. Because it didn’t matter. On offense and defense, this game was a mismatch. You could hear it in Troy Aikman’s voice all night.