This is what we expected after the Seattle Seahawks lost to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 9, right? The logical thought was that when Seattle went up against another team with excellent balance, they would not come close to winning. The 49ers have that kind of balance and they wiped away any hopes of a Seattle victory early in the game.
Seattle lost 31-13 after falling behind 24-3 at halftime. Seattle attempted to make a bit of a comeback but never made the game closer than two scores. The Seahawks had one good quarter in Week 12 and that is nowhere near good enough to beat a good team.
Seattle now potentially faces three more games in a row that look a lot like what happened on Thanksgiving. The Cowboys haven't won by less than 20 points at home all season. Seattle faces the 49ers again but in San Francisco, and then Seattle has to host the Philadelphia Eagles. This might be the ugliest month of football for Seattle in years. But here are three Seahawks that deserve a lot of blame for Week 12.
Seattle Seahawks embarrassment No. 1 - Head coach Pete Carroll
I like Pete Carroll and he has been consistently successful since he arrived in Seattle in 2010. But his teams simply have not gotten blown out as consistently as they have in 2023. Seattle began the season with a 30-13 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at home, lost to the Ravens in Week 9 37-3, and then suffered an 18-point loss to the 49ers on Thanksgiving.
Seattle also has tendancies that are not getting fixed and every team that faces the Seahawks knows what they are. Need to pick up a chunk of yards on second-or-third-and-long? There is very likely a huge opening in the middle of the field as Seattle settles into zone. Offensively, play press coverage on the receivers and bull rush up the middle; Your team will get several sacks by doing that simple thing.
But Carroll just doesn't have his teams prepared to play this year overall. Seattle starts slowly offensive and defensively and then does a bit better for short stretches in the second half. I realize Carroll works with his coordinators to come up with a game plan early in the week and then lets his coordinators work with their specific units the rest of the week, but that is no longer an idea that works. Carroll needs to change up what he is doing and have his coordinators change some tendencies or the coaching staff needs an overall.
Embarrassment No. 2 - Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron
Waldron at times as OC is Seattle has flashed the potential to be somewhat creative, especially with his tight end sets. But other than a handful of games, such as Week 11 when the Seahawks scored a touchdown on their first drive, Seattle's offense struggles early, comes out of halftime, and is slightly better, and then the fourth quarter is anyone's guess. Plus, Waldron's play-calling is baffling at times.
Play-calling is all about preparation, though...most of the time. The call on 4th and 1 with Seattle having the ball on the 41-yard line in 49ers territory for quarterback Geno Smith to give the ball to running back Zach Charbonnet and have Charbonnet attempt to run around the right end to get a first down was obvious and was doomed from the time the call was made. Plus, if the play was going to be run, do it to the left side where Charles Cross is, not to backup right tackle Stone Forsythe's side.
But Waldron has to know how good the 49ers defense is and he should know that entering the game he needs to mix fronts and try to show San Francisco things they have not seen before from Seattle. That did not happen. Instead, the 49ers got to see DK Metcalf go long and Tyler Lockett run short and almost zero use of the tight ends.
What Waldron is doing with the tight ends recently is a total mystery. Against the 49ers, Will Dissly, Colby Parkinson, and Noah Fant were targeted a combined 4 times and all 4 were completed for 55 yards. Fant is a very capable receiver and his lack of production is more a design of the offense than defenses always shutting him down. Waldron shows some promise, but he hasn't improved as an OC and he needs to go.
Embarrassment No. 3 - Wide receiver DK Metcalf
Part of DK Metcalf's issue lately isn't completely his fault. His targets have become forced passes when he is clearly not open. Since Week 7 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Metcalf has 25 catches (in six games), but on 57 targets. That is a catch rate of only 43.9 percent which is atrocious. Metcalf only has one touchdown reception since Week 4. In Week 12, Metcalf caught 3 of his 9 targets.
Of course, it doesn't help when Metcalf drops simple passes as well like the one he did on a short in-route that would have gone for seven yards or so and Geno Smith's pass hits Metcalf directly in his hands. In his career, Metcalf has caught 60.3 percent of his targets, so he doesn't have awful hands, he just doesn't catch the ball as well as Tyler Lockett.
Against the 49ers, and well...almost every other team recently, Metcalf simply doesn't seem to fight for the ball on deep passes. He either catches the pass or he doesn't, but there are no real contested catches because he is not contesting the passes himself. A receiver of DK Metcalf's size should steal a ball or two nearly every game and he is simply incapable or unwilling to do so.
I have seen some comments on social media that the Seahawks do not use Metcalf correctly and he will leave the first chance he gets. The first part might be true, or Metcalf just isn't that great of a route runner. The second part is definitely not true as Metcalf has already re-signed with the Seahawks once and is signed through 2025. Seattle needs to get the ball to Metcalf in more unique ways, but Metcalf also needs to catch the easy passes and fight for throws down the field.