Seahawks Instant Reaction: Seattle Sports on loss to 49ers

Offense was a problem for the Seahawks in Week 2 as they fell to the San Francisco 49ers 27-7, falling to 1-1 on the young season.

Seahawks Fast Facts: Jimmy G steps in, leads 49ers past Seattle 27-7

As we do after every Hawks game, we polled the voices of Seattle Sports 710 AM for their instant reactions. Read what they have to say below, which is just a sampling of their analysis that will be shared on the air Monday beginning with Brock and Salk at 6 a.m. and The Pete Carroll Show at 8:30 a.m.

Stacy Rost, Bump & Stacy (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.)

Welp.

If you felt like no other game could disappoint you after that Monday night upset over Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos, then congratulations, this game was for you!

If you saw enough in primetime to want good production and progress – heck, even good football – from this team, then saying you felt disappointed in Week 2 is an understatement. This was uncompetitive and at times ugly play. And for a team that wants to build on its young foundation, that’s concerning.

Geno Smith completed 80% of his pass attempts and Tyler Lockett finished with 107 yards, but you’d never know it in this one. The Seahawks converted on just two third downs and committed nine penalties, six of which gifted the 49ers a first down.

Seattle’s run defense was a concern in Week 1 and that continued in Week 2, though this time 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan recognized what Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett and Russell Wilson didn’t. San Francisco finished with 189 total rushing yards. In a game – in a season – that was supposed to be about establishing the run for Seattle, the Seahawks picked up just 36 total yards on the ground in Week 2.

San Francisco is a team that ranked top 10 in the run and had 48 sacks last year. They’re built to win now. Losing against them isn’t shocking for a Seahawks team that just parted ways with its franchise quarterback and has more than a handful of new starters. But if they lose to the lowly Falcons in Week 3 and Lions in Week 4? Then you’re in new territory for the Seahawks, and it’s not a place they want to be.

Mike Salk, Brock & Salk (6-10 a.m.)

Can’t win in the NFL if you don’t score and you don’t tackle. The Seahawks’ offense didn’t do the former and the defense didn’t do the latter. And that made the 27-7 loss about as simple to diagnose as any we’ve seen.

It was a great start last week for Geno Smith and he wasn’t necessarily the problem in the Bay. But his offense has now gone six straight quarters without a score and that is a non-starter, even for a team trying to run and play defense.

We knew this would be a tough game for a team coming off the emotional home win last week. But if they can’t generate offense, they’d better be able to play defense. There were some positive signs, but overall, they made it too darn easy for the 49ers.

Bob Stelton, Wyman & Bob (2-7 p.m.)

There isn’t much to say about this one.

When the Seahawks weren’t killing themselves with sloppy play, ill-timed penalties or curious play calls in the red zone, the 49ers did whatever they needed to. And that was after Trey Lance was knocked out of the game.

The Seahawks had 10 penalties for 106 yards. They were undisciplined, to say the least. And while the defense in the red zone has been solid in the first two games, it continued to get picked apart between the 20s and is spending way too much time on the field. The Seahawks lost the time of possession battle 38:20 to 21:40.

While Geno was efficient in his attempts to completion ratio (24 of 30, 197 yards, one interception, no TDs), he’s not the type of QB who can dig you out of a hole like the one they dug for themselves today. This offense didn’t score a point today and that is a bit disturbing. Getting behind the way the Seahawks did basically eliminated the run game they have been excited to lean on. They had 12 combined carries for 34 yards from the running backs.

They did have a great special teams play courtesy of a Tariq Woolen blocked field goal and an 86-yard scoop-and-score by Michael Jackson.

EXACTLY WHAT WE NEEDED!

📺: #SEAvsSF on FOX pic.twitter.com/PMKwUpp5v9

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) September 18, 2022

Bottom line, this is a very young, inexperienced team, so uneven play will be pretty prominent until these guys get comfortable – and the coaching staff learns the strengths and weaknesses of this squad and are able to game plan accordingly.

By the way, I would say having DeeJay Dallas attempt a pass in the red zone should probably be removed from the playbook.

Dave Wyman, Wyman and Bob

Mike Lefko, Wyman and Bob

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt stressed all week the challenges that the 49ers’ run game would present for the Seahawks’ defense, and the fear turned into reality after a bullying, physically imposing performance from the San Francisco offense.

The 49ers ran the ball 45 time, for 189 yards and two touchdowns while controlling the clock and not allowing any breathing room for a Seahawks offense that similarly did itself no favors with the self-inflicted mistakes.

The 49ers’ defense was an imposing force as well, and Geno Smith never looked comfortable in the pocket all game. As Carroll likes to say, “We’ll have to look at the tape.” And certainly without the benefit of breaking down all angles yet, it is hard to tell whether the Seahawks went away from the tight ends in order to keep more help in blocking or whether the 49ers saw something from Week 1 and jumped Smith’s initial reads. But the offensive game plan from the first half against the Broncos was nonexistent throughout this one.

Similarly, it appeared to be a desperation call against a superior defense to try and out-think the 49ers with a halfback pass, and that interception seemed to deflate the offense the rest of the way.

From the ill-timed pass to a muffed punt and a number of other penalties, the growing pains were on full display in this one. It goes without saying that 47 total plays and just 36 yards rushing cannot be the standard moving forward, but it might be a slow climb up towards a humming, sustainable offense.

Through two weeks, we don’t really know much about the overall picture of this team. They are young and inconsistent but showed flashes of grit and potential on a handful of second half defensive stops, including the blocked field goal returned for a touchdown. Another stagnant offensive game against the Falcons in Week 3 would understandably lead to concern, but for now we will see how they adapt and learn from facing one of the best defenses in the league.

Justin Barnes, Brock & Salk

If last Monday was the Super Bowl in Seattle, Sunday in Santa Clara was quite the hangover for the Seahawks.

We heard the recipe to beat the 49ers all week on Seattle Sports: protect the ball, play clean and win on special teams. Suffice it to say, the Seahawks did none of those things.

A combined 215 yards (36 rushing) on offense, 10 penalties for 106 yards and three turnovers later, the results are an unsurprising and deflating 27-7 loss.

Those numbers are suboptimal on a regular day, but when it happens after QB Jimmy Garoppolo – the guy I truly believed would be in Seattle – enters the game for an injured Trey Lance and leads his team to an emotional W, the suboptimal day turns into a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for the Seahawks.

Geno Smith wasn’t unable to muster any of the first half magic from last week, and the defense spent nearly 40 minutes of the game on the field giving up 189 rushing yards, a total the 49ers only surpassed once in the entire 2021 season.

Turnovers, penalties, poor tackling and a total of zero offensive points just won’t cut it in the NFL, but at least Seahawks fans aren’t counting down the play-clock for their own offense on every single play like they did today in Denver for Russell Wilson and Nathaniel Hackett, right?

Broncos fans are helpfully/mockingly shouting out the play clock on every play as Denver struggles to manage the clock. pic.twitter.com/53p339HGME

— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) September 18, 2022

It’s the little things. On to next week.

What we do and don’t know about the Seahawks through two games