A weather delay in the Seattle area ended up being the least of San Francisco’s worries, as the Seattle Seahawks bludgeoned the 49ers 29-3 on head coach Pete Carroll’s 62nd birthday. With this win, the Seahawks run their record to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the AFC West.
This matchup was supposed to be one of the biggest and more down to the wire contests of the entire 2013 season, but it ended up being a dud because the 49ers couldn’t find much rhythm on offense and their defense couldn’t solve the riddles that were quarterback Russell Wilson and running back Marshawn Lynch.
Wilson (8 of 14 for 142 yards, 1 touchdown pass and 1 interception/10 carries for 33 yards) didn’t have a statistical night that will make NFL.com, the Elias Sports Bureau, or Pro Football Focus—three of the biggest football statistical analysis companies in the world—go crazy with joy, but he did put up numbers that kept the 49ers defense occupied and annoyed all night.
As for Lynch, he bullied and willed himself to a 98 yard night on 28 carries and 2 touchdown runs. Tonight’s game gave him a season total of 45 carries for 141 yards and 2 touchdowns on the season so far.
Near the 10:40 mark of the second quarter someone finally puts some points on the board. And that someone was the referee who called the holding penalty on 49ers fullback Brit Miller. Because the Niners were at their own 4 yard line and the penalty was enforced at that same yard line, the play resulted in a safety for Seattle and a 2-0 lead.
Later in the quarter, the Seahawks received another break with left defensive end Cliff Avril executing a strip sack of quarterback Colin Kaepernick (13 of 28 for 127 yards, no touchdown pass, and 3 interceptions) and getting a seven yard sack and fumble in the process, with the fumble being recovered by linebacker K.J. Wright at the SF 30 and returned to the SF 29 for one yard. That big play led to a Steven Hauschka 30 yard field goal and a 5-0 baseball score lead for the Seahawks with 5:52 left in the first half.
Then with around ten minutes left in the 3rd quarter, Seattle was helped by a face mask penalty on Niners linebacker Ahmad Brooks who would have had an 8 yard sack on Wilson and a 3rd and 19 situation for the Seattle offense. But instead it was 1st and goal at the SF 9 yard line for Wilson and his offense. That infraction led to a 14 yard Lynch touchdown run up the middle in which he was hardly touched, behind a center Max Unger redirecting block on a defender. The score now stood at 12-0 with 9:14 left in the third.
The Niners finally got on the board with a 21 yard field goal by kicker Phil Dawson to make the score 12-3 with 4:23 left in the third quarter.
But on the ensuing drive by Seattle, a huge pass interference penalty on 49ers cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha versus Seattle receiver Golden Tate set up the Seahawks at the SF 24. It was 40 yard penalty that was enforced from the SEA 36 yard line. That penalty led to a tight end Zach Miller 15 yard reception to the SF 27 yard line. But on the play, the NIners committed another heinous penalty this time on outside linebacker Aldon Smith, who unnecessarily roughed a Seattle player which further moved the ball to the SF 13.
On the next play Smith atoned for his mistake by beating Seattle left tackle Pat McQuistan and gobbling up Lynch for 3 yard loss back to the SF 16. But two plays later, Smith’s big play was ignored due to Wilson (with safety Craig Dahl in his face) throwing a corner pass to Lynch who just slowly walked into the end zone after a few-second pause at the plane of the goal line to give Seattle a 19-3 lead with 13:51 left in the game.
Cornerback Richard Sherman seriously damaged any chance the Niners had of mounting a comeback with a 28 yard interception return to the SF 25. Sherman’s theft led to another Hauschka successful field goal to give Seattle a 22-3 advantage with 11:36 left in the contest.
Much later in the fourth quarter, strong safety Kam Chancellor intercepted Seattle’s third pass of the night that he returned 30 yards down near the left sideline and he didn’t go down until he got to the SF 2 yard line. Chancellor’s pick led to a 2 yard touchdown run by Lynch that put the score at 29-3 with 4:22 left in the game.
The game was already over score-wise and strategically, but time-wise it really wasn’t over until rookie running back Spencer Ware carried for 3 yards to give Seattle a first down. Wilson proceeded to kneel down two times and that was the ball game.
