Ultimately it didn’t matter whether the Seattle Seahawks had won or lost against the San Francisco 49ers. Results elsewhere rooted them to the #3 seed, but they did rally to avoid a rather embarrassing defeat against what was essentially a B-team given the injuries San Francisco was dealing with.
There’s not a lot from this game I feel like reviewing but here’s the final Winners and Losers of the 2020 regular season.
Winners
Tyler Lockett
Lockett had been quiet seemingly for more than a month before turning in another brilliant performance at State Farm Stadium. Last time he was there he had 15/200/3 against Arizona, this time he gets 12/90/2 against San Francisco and the go-ahead score. He’s the first Seahawks player ever to reach 100 catches in a season and he’s reminded everyone that he’s still a damn good receiver.
4th Quarter Russell Wilson
Wilson picked up his 3rd fourth-quarter comeback/game-winning drive of the season and he was dialed in on the two touchdown drives that turned it from a 16-6 deficit into a 19-16 lead. He was more willing to scramble, he made smart plays on the run, and both TDs to Lockett were a thing of beauty.
Alex Collins
With Chris Carson’s ear all busted and Rashaad Penny cramping, Alex Collins stepped up and put the game on ice with an eight-yard touchdown that showcased speed and decisiveness that was quite similar to his previous TD against the Los Angeles Rams. I’m almost wondering if Collins should actually be bumped up to the active roster permanently, but that’s unlikely given Penny was fine, ditto Carson, and Carlos Hyde should be back from illness.
Chris Carson
That was an underrated good game form Carson. He only had 13 touches but five of them were first downs and he had two runs that gained nine yards on 1st and 10, which analytics and common sense will tell you are successful plays. It’s been hard for the Seahawks running game to get into any rhythm for much of the year but Carson was able to get going in the 4th quarter when the offense badly needed key players to perform well.
David Moore
Congrats on the extra cash, my man. You earned it!
Benson Mayowa
Quietly a really good year for Mayowa (apart from that horrible leverage penalty he took in the first Cardinals game). Two sacks on the afternoon including the game-ending strip-sack. He ends the year with six sacks, only behind Jarran Reed and Jamal Adams for most on the team.
KJ Wright
Please don’t let KJ leave. He is still playing at a high-level and blowing up George Kittle and Kyle Juszczyk in the open field. The man should be in the Seahawks Ring of Honor when his career does end.
Rasheem Green
Rasheem has never really gotten going due to injuries but he was huge today. A third-down sack that led to a 49ers field goal and then the fumble recovery after Mayowa’s strip sack. I still hold out some hope that Green can be at least a competent rotational piece on the Seahawks’ defensive line.
Nick Bellore
Bellore had one hell of a special teams tackle on a punt return, literally taking a 49ers blocker and driving him into River Cracraft. He also recovered the onside kick to make sure San Francisco couldn’t have some miraculous comeback. Pro Bowler on ST for a reason!
Jason Myers
Myers missed a PAT but that turned out to be a good thing in the long-term because it forced the Seahawks to go for it down 16-12 instead of settle for a tying field goal at 16-13. He is just the 3rd kicker in NFL history (joining Gary Anderson and Mike Vanderjagt) to have a perfect season while attempting at least 23 field goals.
Losers
1st-3rd Quarter Russell Wilson
That was really bad. I’m focusing squarely on Wilson because I suspect that All-22 will reveal that a lot of the offensive failures were bad execution by Russ and not bad playcalls by Schottenheimer. His downfield accuracy has been muted over the past several weeks and it makes him a worse quarterback. Russ’ turnovers are down but at what cost to his overall game? I’m a bit concerned about how often the Seahawks passing game has sputtered against a stronger schedule of defenses than when Let Russ Cook was at its peak.
Shaquill Griffin
Griffin is so frustrating because on his best day he’s clearly the best corner on the team. But he gave up a huge catch to Richie James Jr on a 3rd and 14 and was very fortunate that CJ Beathard didn’t punish his coverage bust that left George Kittle wide open for a touchdown.
DK Metcalf
Pretty inefficient day for DK. Just three catches for 21 yards on nine targets and while he did break Steve Largent’s Seahawks single-season record for receiving yards, he had another drop (slightly behind him but catchable) and was just really not a meaningful factor at all.
Final Notes
- Jordyn Brooks led the team in tackles and by my count most of his tackles resulted in minimal to no gain. He got beat for a touchdown in the closing seconds but that’s only a minor nitpick when Seattle pretty much had the game in hand. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to suggest that he’s already an upgrade from Mychal Kendricks.
- Really hoping Jarran Reed and Jamal Adams can go next week or else that’s a huge blow to the defense. There’s optimism on Adams but we still don’t know what the deal is with Reed, who has been resurgent since Carlos Dunlap was acquired.
- The offensive line still has serious problems picking up stunts and it’s leading into instant pressures or botched plays. I really hope Mike Iupati and Brandon Shell can return next week.
- Not exactly pleased with the early 2nd half defense relative to the personnel the 49ers had on the field. I think there’s still reason to be worried about the Seahawks against a much more competent offense just on that alone, but they still made critical stops when asked of them more often than note.
- Bring on the Rams! John Wolford, Jared Goff, Jim Everett, Jamie Martin, I don’t give a damn. It’s going to be a low-scoring slog of a game but it’s one I’d love for the Seahawks to win again and send their rivals home for good.
