Seahawks' biggest loser from loss to 49ers is painfully obvious

The Seattle Seahawks came out on the wrong side of a hard-fought battle against their bitter rivals from Northern California. I can haul out a laundry list for all the reasons the home team fell, but one stands out for me more than any other.

The Seahawks have a lot of work to do. They had multiple three-and-outs in this contest. There's never a good time for that sequence. But when you've just taken the ball away with a huge interception, you can't run 23 seconds off the clock and then punt. That is not a winning formula.

The running game started with a lot of promise, then faded quickly. I should say that Zach Charbonett started well. Kenneth Walker is still taking that little stutter step before he hits the hole. Until he managed a couple of decent runs in the fourth quarter, he had four yards on five carries. Ball security might be something to work on, too. But there is zero doubt who the Seahawks' biggest loser was in this game.

Riq Woolen made a season's worth of awful plays for the Seahawks in Week 1 loss

A glance at the box score would tell you that Riq Woolen had a decent game. He had three solo tackles, an assist, and broke up a pass. The Seahawks defense only gave up 17 points, so it looks like he put in the work, right? I mean, Josh Jobe only had one pass breakup and a pair of tackles.

Except we're missing a few items. Jobe also had Seattle's second interception of Brock Purdy, one that should have shut them down. Devon Witherspoon was all over the field, as usual, and finished with seven solo tackles, one for a loss, and an assist.

The Seahawks safeties, Julian Love and Coby Bryant, combined for 18 tackles. Julian Love, in particular, was amazing. He added a sack, a QB hit, and a tackle for a loss. Oh, I almost forgot; he blocked a field goal, too.

And what can we add for Mr. Woolen? Well, he made one of the worst mistakes I've ever seen, timing a jump for a deep ball to Ricky Piersall. The ball was clearly sailing past #27 and going to drop into the Niner receiver's hands. It was so bad, I had flashbacks of Tedric Thompson in the defensive backfield. Instead of an easy pass breakup or - dare I say it - an interception, it resulted in a 26-yard completion that led to San Francisco's first touchdown.

In a throwback to last season, Woolen often looked disinterested in run support throughout the game. I'll give him credit, he did make a fine play to prevent a Niners' score in the fourth quarter, as he barely tipped a pass intended for Piersall in the end zone. San Francisco was held to a field goal on that drive, settling for a 10-10 tie at that point.

Sadly, Woolen had previously been beaten by - yes, Peirsall - earlier on the drive, giving up a 26-yard strike down the left sideline. Even if he'd broken up the pass, he committed a penalty on the play anyway. But like all masters of the arts, he was saving his worst performance for last.

On the 49ers' winning drive, our hero had coverage of San Francisco backup tight end Jake Tonges. This guy is such a deadly weapon that he had zero catches coming into this game, and he's been in the league since 2022. With 1:34 left and the ball at Seattle's four-yard line, Purdy lofts a pass to Tonges on the right side of the end zone.

Woolen is right beside Tonges, but somehow misreads the path of the ball, despite the fact that he's watching the quarterback. Nor does he even glimpse the target in his peripheral vision.

Again, Riq jumps. His timing was fine, but he was more than an arm's length away from the guy he was covering. Maybe he thinks each arm measures 78 inches, instead of that being his total reach. I have no idea what was going through his head at that time.

But I have a pretty clear idea of what the 12s thought. I can't reproduce most of what I saw on social media, or this would be my last article for FanSided. This was probably the tamest comment:

Yes, he did appear to be checked out on multiple plays, Gregg. And you're right again; this was not the game he neeed to post in a contract year. This wasn't the game he ever needed to post. From one 12 to another, I feel your frustration. Let's hope Woolen does, too.