Seattle RB Robert Turbin let a Russell Wilson pass go through his hands during the first quarter of Thursday night's loss to San Francisco. Turbin had two steps on 49ers defender Patrick Willis and was only five yards from the end zone when he dropped it. The Seahawks dropped a total of five passes in the game. (US Presswire) |
Four days after outplaying future Hall-of-Famer Tom Brady, Seahawks rookie quarterback Russell Wilson was shown up by 49ers QB Alex Smith. Well, Smith didn't exactly show up Wilson, but he did play slightly better -- and slightly better was all the 49ers needed for the win. Smith threw for 140 yards and a third-quarter touchdown that proved to be the difference in San Francisco's 13-6 win. Wilson threw for 122 yards and was only able to lead the Seahawks into the red zone one time on nine possessions.
Seattle's offense struggled on Thursday, but that's almost to be expected when the NFL's 29th ranked offense goes up against the league's top-ranked defense.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Seahawks' run defense had its worst game of the season, surrendering 175 yards to the 49ers. Before Thursday, the Seattle defense hadn't given up more than 87 rushing yards in a game this season.
Offense: C-
The up-and-down roller coaster ride that is Wilson's rookie season continued against San Francisco on Thursday. Four days after throwing for a career-high 293 yards and three touchdowns in a win over the Patriots, Wilson went 9 of 23 for a career-low 122 yards against the NFL's No. 1 defense. Wilson had no help from his receiving corps, a veteran unit that dropped five passes in the game, including a big first-quarter drop by RB Robert Turbin that would have gone for touchdown. Wilson, who shined in the second half against the Patriots, was only 3 of 10 for 19 yards in the second half against the 49ers. The lone bright spot for Seattle was Marshawn Lynch, who carried the ball 19 times for 103 yards. Previous game's grade: A-
Defense: B
Coach Pete Carroll was dissatisfied with the performance of his team's defense, and he made a point to let everyone know it in his postgame press conference. "I'm not pleased with what we did on defense." So what did the Seahawks do on defense that irked Carroll so much? They gave up a season-high 175 yards on the ground and surrendered 5.5 yards per carry. San Francisco's offensive line had their way with Seattle's front seven, which allowed Frank Gore to become the first running back to go over 100 yards against the Seahawks since Roy Helu did it for the Redskins in November 2011 -- 13 games ago. Gore finished with 131 yards, which caused the Seahawks' game plan of bottling up Gore and forcing Alex Smith to beat them to fizzle. The 49ers' punishing running game allowed them to hold on to the ball four minutes longer than the Seahawks (32:01-27:59). Previous game's grade: A
Special teams: B-
Punter Jon Ryan had a good game for Seattle, averaging 48.5 yards on four punts. The only problem is that the punt coverage team didn't equal Ryan's effort. San Francisco returner Ted Ginn averaged 23.3 yards on three returns, including a 16-yarder in the fourth quarter that set the 49ers up in Seahawks territory and led to an eventual David Akers 28-yard field goal. Steven Hauschka missed only his second field goal of the season on a 51-yard attempt in the second quarter that went wide left. Previous game's grade: A-
Coaching: B-
The coaching staff's biggest blunder in the game was probably not giving the ball to Lynch more. Lynch had the hot hand -- he carried 19 times and averaged 5.4 yards per carry. Wilson struggled for most of the game, and when he did manage to make a good throw, the Seahawks receivers dropped it. Carroll's decision to punt the ball with 2:18 left and his team trailing by six ended up hurting the offense. The Seahawks did get the ball back, but it was at their own 11 with 1:36 left in the game, and Wilson had no timeouts to work with. Previous game's grade: A
For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis from Seahawks blogger John Breech follow @JohnBreech and @CBSSeahawks.