Seattle Seahawks Week 12: Good news and bad news from the loss to the 49ers
Obviously, there's more bad news than good from a loss that put the Seattle Seahawks two games back in the division race. There's a heck of a lot more bad news than good, in fact. We'll sift through the wreckage for the good.
The Seahawks started so poorly on offense and defense that by the time they started to play better, it was too late to salvage the game. The game was filled with bad news for the Hawks, but there was still the occasional glimmer of good news mixed in. For example, 49ers linebacker Fred Warner wasn't penalized for grabbing the face mask as pictured above. The good news: Zach Charbonnet somehow wasn't injured during the play.
The bad news is that this was hardly the only penalty the refs missed against the Niners. Far worse was a missed pass interference call that cost Seattle a chance at a touchdown. San Francisco cornerback Ambry Thomas clearly held Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the end zone well before the ball arrived. I'm not about to say that one play cost the Hawks the game. Their own inept play in the first half was a far bigger factor in the loss. But since we're talking about penalties, the good news is the Seahawks just committed five in this game, after being flagged a dozen times versus the Rams. See, a little glimmer of hope.
The Seattle Seahawks were buried by the bad news of the first quarter
The first quarter was one of the worst the Hawks have ever played in their 48-year history. The fact they only allowed seven points is frankly unbelievable. How often have you seen a team roll up 148 yards in a quarter and only score one touchdown? The good news there was that the Hawks' defense did a great job on the Niners' second drive of the game. They pushed the 49ers ten yards back from the Seattle 30-yard line and forced a punt. The bad news was that the Hawks did nothing with the ball, losing a yard before they were forced to punt.
The only shred of good news from that entire half was the play of Dee Eskridge. Yes, there was a Dee Eskridge sighting, as crazy as that sounds. He ripped a 66-yard kickoff return to set up Jason Myers' 51-yard field goal to open Seattle's scoring. Good thing, too, as the Hawks gained exactly zero yards in that horrendous first quarter. o I suppose that qualifies as a bit of good news, right? Seattle allowed 148 yards and managed none, yet only trailed 7-3 after 15 minutes.