Studs and duds from the Seattle Seahawks week 12 loss to the 49ers

The 49ers took control of the NFC West, leaving the Seattle Seahawks in the dust. After this performance, just a winning record would be a bonus. The Hawks showed signs of life, but not nearly soon enough to make any difference on Thanksgiving night.

The Seahawks were completely dominated in the first half of this game. It's very hard to recall that this defense could actually stop the run earlier this year. The Seattle defense bore no resemblance to their earlier incarnation over the first 30 minutes of the game. The Hawks offense was equally dismal, equally inept. I think it's safe to say that the Niners 148 to 0 advantage in yardage for the first quarter was bad.

The onslaught continued in the second quarter, led by Christian McCaffrey, but at least Seattle showed some signs of life. San Francisco only gained 77 yards in the quarter, while the home team managed 56 yards. Unfortunately, the Niners rolled up the score in that stanza and turned a manageable 7-3 deficit into a 24-3 smackdown.

The Seahawks came out in the second half and looked like a completely different team. Maybe Pete Carroll handed out a piece of gum to everyone; who knows? They held the Niners to 47 yards while rolling for 101 of their own. Seattle outscored the Franciscans 10-0, and it appeared we had a game. Sadly, we did not, as the 49ers reversed the trend and were in control the rest of the way, coasting to a 31-13 win.

The Seattle Seahawks had too many duds on both lines to contend

I believe it's safe to say that when your line allows six sacks, they weren't exactly doing their job. One of those sacks was on Geno Smith, as he simply took too long to find a receiver. But for the most part, the line let him down. His best plays consistently came when he rolled away from the Niners pressure. In fact, he had Seattle's longest run of the night at 11 yards.

There weren't exactly opening holes for Zach Charbonnet, either. He averaged just 3.4 yards per carry on the night. So, no turkey legs for the offensive line on the night. Mike Tirico and Chris Collinsworth made the point several times that Seahawks tackle Jason Peters is the oldest player in the league. The rest of the line played like they were twice his age.

The defensive line gets no love, either. Leonard Williams had a pair of quarterback hits, and Jarran Reed got a hand on the pass that eventually wound up in the hands of Jordyn Brooks, but that was it for this unit. Niners QB Brock Purdy practically had time to grab a taco at El Camion after the snap on most plays. And the 169 yards rushing the Hawks surrendered was largely because Christian McCaffrey and his pals could have driven one of those food trucks through the holes the 49ers opened on play after play. Defensive line, no turkey for you, either.

The Geno Smith to DK Metcalf connection was a dud

Please read that carefully, 12s. I mean, those of you who actually read the articles, instead of just glancing at the headline. Thanks for reading, by the way. Now I'm not saying that Geno Smith was a dud. He's certainly had better games, He had far too many underthrown passes. The interception he threw should have been a completion to Tyler Lockett, but Smith simply threw the ball too late.

The broadcast team gave their game ball to 49ers cornerback Charvarius Ward for his three pass breakups. Two of those were so badly underthrown that I could have shut the plays down. Well, I could if I could run. And jump. All without collapsing in a sweat. But, you get the idea.

I can't exactly call Smith a dud, either, as he made some terrific throws, too. Plus he picked up two long gains for the Hawks with his legs when nothing was open. Add that he stayed dialed in, despite falling behind 24-3. He gave his team a chance - a small chance, granted, and only briefly - but he hung in their, despite the pain in his throwing arm. He wasn't a stud, no, but he certainly wasn't a dud, either.

I won't call DK Metalf a dud for his performance in this game, either. Yeah, he only caught three of his nine targets, and that would typically warrrant a nomination as a dud. But again, he didn't always get the easiest targets. One ball he certainly should have brought down was the deep ball that DK caught, but just caught the sideline with his left foot as he took his second step. Had that been Tyler Lockett, we all know that would have been a huge pickup, instead of an incompletion. And he had that bad drop, too. Hmmmm... maybe Metcalf was a dud, after all.

Enough crying. On to the Seahawks studs

I never thought I'd say this, but the first name that comes to mind is Dee Eskridge. I'd written him off for the year, before the season even began, even before his suspension. He just hadn't shown much in his first two years in Seattle. I mean, 17 catches and six carries in two years aren't exactly Deebo Samuel numbers. Clearly, that's who the Seahawks thought Eskridge could be for them, and it just never happened. It appeared that he found his calling against the Niners, though.

All Eskridge did was return four kicks for a total of 140 yards. His first was for an electrifying 66 yards that gave the Seahawks the ball at the 49ers 33-yard line. That's how you manage to kick a field goal despite gaining one yard on a drive, by the way. Think of it this way: on a night Seattle managed just 220 yards of offense, Eskridge picked up over 60 percent of that on special teams. Even tossing out the 66-yard bombshell, he still averaged over 24 yards per return. As I said, I never imagined saying that Dee Eskridge was a stud for the Seahawks, but it feels very good to do so.

Jordyn Brooks was a stud in this game as well. It would be pretty difficult to exclude the only member of the Seahawks to score a touchdown in the past seven quarters, right? The fact that he led Seattle with 12 tackles is almost secondary to his heroics. Okay, it is secondary, but he still would have been a standout even without his heads-up play to get the Hawks within striking distance. I imagine that John Schneider and Pete Carroll regret not picking up his option for next season. As much as I hate to say it, it's quite likely that Brooks would be even better in a system that makes better use of his skill set, just as Lee Vowell suggested.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba has done a pretty good job of making all those early-season concerns disappear, hasn't he? Yes, he drops too many passes, but Metcalf did too as a rookie. Not as many as JSN, but still too many. But when a player can make catches like this beauty from the rookie. He is a rookie, right? Oh, and he led Seattle in receiving yards for the third time this season. Remember when the national media said he was a bust? We knew it was just a matter of time.

Yes, the Seahawks took a tough loss, and there's no positive spin to put on that simple fact. But we can take pride in the fact that when other teams would have folded, the Hawks fought back. They lost to the better team on Thanksgiving, but they didn't quit. As Mr. Vowell wrote in his recap of the game - you already clicked the linked article above, right? - that's a positive that both the Seahawks and the 12s can be thankful for.

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