Seahawks can end a Bay Area trend Thursday against San Francisco
Nov 27, 2014, 1:46 AM | Updated: 11:25 am
(AP)
RENTON – How long has it been since Seattle beat the 49ers on the road?
Seneca Wallace and J.T. O’Sullivan were the starting quarterbacks. Mike Holmgren and Mike Singletary were the head coaches, and Seattle prevailed 34-13 with the help of touchdowns from Josh Wilson, T.J. Duckett and Leonard Weaver.
If any of those names don’t sound familiar, well, that should give you a good indication of just how long it’s been since Seattle’s last win over the 49ers in their building. It was in October of 2008, which means the Seahawks are carrying a five-game road losing streak against San Francisco heading into Thursday night’s meeting.
The 49ers are in a different building now, playing their inaugural season at brand-new Levi’s Stadium about 40 miles south of San Francisco in Santa Clara. Perhaps a change of venue will help change the miserable fortunes Seattle had the last five years at Candlestick Park.
Earlier this week coach Pete Carroll pointed to a common thread in those games, other than the end result of a Seahawks loss.
“They’ve all been really close,” he said.
At least the last three have.
There was a 33-17 loss in the 2011 opener, which was a two-point game until Ted Ginn Jr. scored two return touchdowns in the final 4 minutes to give the 49ers a win in Jim Harbaugh’s debut.
There was a 13-6 loss the next season in a Thursday night game that would best be described as a slugfest. Seattle had a hard time catching the ball and an even harder time tackling Frank Gore, who repeatedly gashed the Seahawks up the middle to the tune of 131 yards on only 18 carries.
The Seahawks were headed toward a victory late last year, leading 17-16 with less than 5 minutes remaining only to let Gore break free for a 51-yard run that set up the 49ers’ game-winning field goal.
And so Seattle’s Bay-Area misery continued.
Now, this should be kept in the proper perspective given everything that this group of Seahawks has accomplished. It has won two division titles over the last four seasons, made the playoffs in three of them and claimed the franchise’s first Super Bowl. And even within the rivalry against San Francisco, Seattle has had the upper hand of late with two decisive whuppings and a last-second win in the NFC title game.
So in that regard, the inability to beat San Francisco on the road isn’t a monkey on the Seahawks’ back so much as it’s one of the last remaining items on their to-do list.
The Seahawks can cross that off Thursday night, but if recent history is any indication, it won’t be easy.