By Jake Parr, edited by Charles Hamaker

Seattle, WA - Just four days out from a difficult 29-20 loss to the New York Giants at home, the Seattle Seahawks needed to bounce back in tonight’s Thursday night football matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. Instead, they let the Niners put up 16 points in the first half, answered only by a field goal as time ran out in the second quarter. Powered by three turnovers that led to 12 points for San Francisco in a 12 point game, the 49ers were able to neutralize the Seattle offense, and took advantage of defensive miscues for three passing touchdowns by Brock Purdy.

Errant Throws

At a glance, tonight’s offensive performance may not seem that bad. But -- similar to the 500 yard explosion in the loss to the Detroit Lions on the road in week four -- Seattle’s 312 passing yards, one passing touchdown, and one rushing touchdown bely the impact of two interceptions thrown by Geno Smith. Those two giveaways, including one on the very first drive of the game, led to nine points for San Francisco -- one touchdown with a failed two-point conversion and one field goal. Geno Smith only completed 30 of his 52 pass attempts, with many sailing over the heads of his targets. Factoring in his two picks, his passer rating tonight was just 65.5, by far his lowest of the year.

The ground game struggled to develop, with Kenneth Walker III producing just 2.3 yards on average across 14 carries. Walker did have a productive day as a receiver, though, picking up 37 yards through the air on eight receptions. Although his best success as a reliever did not manifest in the box score. Late in the game, he came wide open along the right sideline, as free as an asteroid on an escape trajectory. He threw his arm up three times, but Smith didn’t see him, and nothing came of the play. 

As in the previous two losses, we saw flashes of fight from these Hawks, but just flashes. For the past three weeks they have been unable to set the tempo against their opponents, instead giving up early command and playing from behind for four quarters. That’s not a winning strategy to win ballgames and it isn’t working for the Seahawks.

Defensive Line Eroding

On the other side of the ball, the Seahawks defense continued to struggle to contain the run game. That was always going to be tough against the physical, ground-pounding 49ers, but Seattle seemed unprepared and outmatched against Isaac Guerendo and Jordan Mason. That pick that Geno threw on the first drive? It was caught at the one yard line. The 49ers fought their way all the way down field -- with the biggest play being a Jordan Mason 38-yard run -- and were only barely stopped at the Seattle seven yard line and forced to settle for three points.

In the fourth quarter, with time running out and the Seahawks down by five, the defense needed to make a quick stop for Seattle to have any chance at a miracle comeback. Instead, it was as if Guerendo set off blasting charges the way a rift opened up for him. He ran through the line and was wide open for 76 yards until he slid to take more time off the clock. That explosive run set up a six yard run for teammate Kyle Juszczyk which ended any of Seattle’s hopes. That final touchdown also gave Seattle the ignominious distinction of losing three games in a row by at least two scores. This team started the season 3-0, and just in a span of eleven days they’ve lost three games in a row.

Generous with the ball

The real problem tonight, however, was an inability to keep hold of the ball. We’ve already discussed Geno Smith’s two picks, but perhaps the worst turnover was on special teams. After a 76 yard touchdown pass to Deebo Samuel Sr., a play that Julian Love allowed to happen by diving for air instead of either the ball or Samuel, Laviska Shenault Jr. fielded the kick four yards back in his own end zone. Instead of taking the touchback, Shenault decided to come out with it and scrambled all the way back to about the 29 yard line. Where he promptly fumbled the ball, giving the 49ers the ball right back after the big play touchdown.

By some miracle, the ensuing San Francisco drive only resulted in a field goal. Because we live in a cosmically humorous universe, that meant that the amount of points given to San Francisco by Seattle turnovers totalled 12. Which, of course, was the exact margin of defeat. But, for the sake of fairness, I feel a need to draw your attention to Shenault’s redemption moment, when, in the third quarter, he returned a 49ers kickoff 97 yards all the way to the house to put six points of his own on the board, this time for the right team.

It’s easy to point to a lot of things and say “this cost the Seahawks the game.” But these turnovers, more than anything else truly did. Coupled with the fact that Seattle was unable to force any turnovers of their own and that the Seahawks only had position for 26 minutes, it’s clear that the biggest problem facing the Hawks is keeping control of the football. Seattle is 26th in the nation in takeaways with just four on the season so far. On a fundamental level, the game of football is about dictating what happens to the ball. And the Hawks can’t do that right now.

What’s next?

The Seahawks are desperate to turn it around after three straight losses, seeing their once strong start to the season evaporate. Perhaps thankfully, they now have ten days until their next game which they can use to rest, recover, and prepare. They’ll be jetting off to Atlanta to take on the Falcons in an all-avian matchup. The Falcons are 3-2 and, as of tonight, have yet to play their week six game against the Carolina Panthers, a franchise that has struggled for the past few years. Perhaps the extra three days of rest will ensure the Seahawks emerge as the last bird-of-prey standing. That game will be on Sunday October 20th at 10AM Pacific time and will be available on Fox Sports and with NFL Sunday Ticket, going over the radio on Seattle Sports 710AM and KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. The Seahawks hope is to get healthier between this loss and that battle against the Falcons, as Atlanta has shown some grit so far this season with a host of weapons offensively for quarterback Kirk Cousins to throw to. With a lot of key defensive contributors on the injury report and the team not playing up to their potential, there is hope that Seattle will be able to navigate themselves out of the current slump that they’re in.

Check out Circling Seattle Sports’ previous Seattle Seahawks articles here.

Check out Circling Seattle Sports’ previous articles written by Jake Parr here, and his Lookout Landing articles here.

Thumbnail photo by Joe Nicholson/USA Today Sports

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