Rost: What another Seahawks loss to 49ers reveals about them

There’s a pretty sizable gap between being a Super Bowl team and a very bad team. The San Francisco 49ers have looked and played like a Super Bowl team for a few years now. The Seattle Seahawks have not.

Niners 36, Seahawks 24 | Instant Reaction | Observations | Stats

Like I said, there’s a gap between being a Super Bowl squad and being godawful. Seattle isn’t the latter, nor are they a true contender. There’s talent at wide receiver and running back, a solid quarterback, and emerging young players at edge rusher and cornerback. But the last six meetings between Seattle and San Francisco have made it clear that there’s a gulf to clear, and a change at head coach alone isn’t going to bridge it. Not with a learning curve for that coach and roster questions at other positions.

So, let’s get that out of the way. If you think they’re a horrible team with little hope for this season, I disagree and implore you watch the Jags, Titans and Panthers (but really, please don’t).

The Seahawks do have some fundamental problems, though, and we saw a few of them in Thursday night’s loss to the 49ers. Unfortunately.

Two new injuries for short-handed Seahawks secondary

First, this team’s best shot to win games is with Geno Smith playing phenomenal football, and he didn’t do that. He threw an interception on Seattle’s first drive (yes, he was under pressure, but it was still an overthrow to Tyler Lockett), he overthrew Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a third down in the first half, underthrew DK Metcalf a bit after the latter beat his defender deep, and threw a late backbreaking interception when 49ers’ Renardo Green jumped a route and cut below Metcalf. That became a 49ers touchdown.

Renardo Green jumps the route for the PICK.#SFvsSEA on Prime Video
Also streaming on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/nnOk1vN8Q8

— NFL (@NFL) October 11, 2024

Smith isn’t a top passer who will throw four touchdowns a game, but he can otherwise be sharp. He has been one of the league’s most accurate passers for two seasons, and that — his best characteristic — was absent Thursday night.

The big issues? The offensive line is still struggling against suffocating pressure and the defense still can’t stop the run. In between the 228 (!) rushing yards given up were plenty of missed tackles and communication issues.

Déjà vu: 49ers dominate Seahawks on the ground once again

Interior offensive line and inside linebacker were areas where Seattle rolled the dice in the offseason — either by moving on from veterans or by passing up on either to address other positions of need in the draft. Such is life when balancing a salary cap. And while we don’t know whether run defense or pass protection issues are entirely on players or on scheme and coaching, we do know there’s a problem. And the Seahawks had better start fixing it, because they’re entering another brutal part of the schedule with games against the Falcons and Bills upcoming, making it a real chance to turn a three-game skid into four or five.

More on the Seattle Seahawks

• Seahawks make flurry of roster moves before playing 49ers
• Wyman: The biggest areas the Seahawks’ defense needs to fix
• Salk: Why Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald’s career really starts now
• Seahawks swap UW, WSU products on practice squad
• What Seattle Seahawks’ D has been missing in losses