Game Recap: Seattle Seahawks Keep Sliding, Fall to Rival San Francisco 49ers

A poor performance by Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith and the team's defense resulted in a 36-24 loss to the rival San Francisco 49ers in primetime on Thursday.

Oct 10, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; San Francisco 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir (2) breaks a up a potential touchdown pass to Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) during the second quarter at Lumen Field. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Geno Smith turned in his worst performance of the season and the Seattle Seahawks defense continued to perform well below expectation in a 36-24 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night at Lumen Field.

The 49ers took hold of first place in the NFC West, winning its sixth straight game over Seattle dating back to 2022. The Seahawks lost their third in a row after beginning the season 3-0.

"Of course, you're going to be upset and worried about losing three straight. Of course," Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said postgame. "But we are 3-3. We are six weeks in. So, we started fast. Obviously [have] not played good football in the last three games, and onward we go. The mentality always has to be ‘Hey let's move forward, attack this thing, and let's fight like hell to make it right.’ That's the message to the guys. There is no novel idea, but that's just got to be the mentality."

After playing three games in 11 days, the Seahawks now have a mini bye week to try and get healthy and correct the litany of issues that have led to their recent skid. Seattle has lost the turnover battle 6-1 over its past three games — perhaps best describing the team’s troubles during its losing streak. The Seahawks aren’t protecting the ball, and they aren’t taking it away.

"It is good to have a couple of days to take a breath and really have a chance to go back with the tape and come up with a great plan of attack to go forward," Macdonald said. "That's got to be our mentality. So that's what we're going to do."

San Francisco highlighted the first half with a 76-yard touchdown reception from wide receiver Deebo Samuel that saw him begin uncovered before safety Julian Love overpursued the pass defense and missed. Nobody could catch Samuel from there.

The 49ers took a 10-0 lead. San Francisco’s lead was 16-3 at halftime. Seattle was abysmal on both sides of the ball through two quarters. The 49ers outgained the Seahawks 244-133 and had almost five times as many rushing yards.

For the third straight game, Seattle began the game appearing uninspired and out of place. Smith had his worst start to a game, completing just 9 of 18 passes for 109 yards and an interception — coming on an overthrown pass to Tyler Lockett on Seattle’s first offensive drive.

Smith, for the first time this season, looked bad in the first half. It wasn’t just him, as Seattle’s offense and defense looked disjointed. The issues that plagued the team in the last two games seemingly rolled over, including poor offensive play calling and sub-par defensive tackling.

"We need to get better at a lot of things. That's the reality. We need to find ways to win," Smith said of the offensive performance. "Whatever the bread and butter is, we got to collectively come up with that answer and get to it."

The 49ers continued their dominance early in the third quarter. A 9-play, 70-yard drive was capped off by a 10-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brock Purdy to tight end George Kittle. San Francisco quickly pushed their lead to 23-3. Seattle couldn’t close the floodgates.

Seahawks wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr., who fumbled a kickoff in the first half that led to 49ers points, ended up being the spark the Seahawks needed. Shenault returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown, trimming Seattle’s lead to just 13.

After forcing a 49ers punt, the Seahawks put together a 13-play, 94-yard drive that Walker finished off with a 1-yard touchdown run. It was the most balanced drive for Seattle in weeks, displaying the offense’s ceiling while also inspiring curiosity as to why the unit can’t string together enough plays to maintain that consistency.

Either way, Seattle had trimmed its lead to 23-17. With 14 unanswered points, the Seahawks were back in the game.

That didn’t last long. Both teams traded punts before Smith threw his second interception of the game to cornerback Renardo Green at Seattle’s 35-yard line. The 49ers capitalized, as tight end George Kittle caught a 9-yard touchdown from Purdy three plays later.

Seattle then orchestrated a 15-play, 70-yard possession that spanned 4:36 of the game clock and concluded with a Tyler Lockett touchdown catch from Smith. Once again, it appeared the way the Seahawks’ offense is supposed to when clicking on all cylinders.

Unfortunately, that drive concluded with 1:44 remaining in the game. An earlier 52-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Metcalf was nullified by an illegal shift that, had it counted, would’ve left 4:46 on the clock.

When 49ers running back Isaac Guerendo ripped off a 76-yard rush on the first play of San Francisco’s next, it was clear the game was over. A game-winning score by fullback Kyle Juszczyk followed. Now 36-24, there was nothing left for Seattle to do.

Losing the turnover battle is becoming a weekly occurrence

Again, being minus-five in the turnover battle over three straight losses is a fast-tracked way to lose three straight football games. From DK Metcalf’s fumbles in the last two games to three turnovers between Shenault and Smith in this one, the Seahawks are in crisis mode in that area.

"It's probably single-handedly the biggest thing that hurt our football team," Macdonald said. "We have to take care of the ball better. Practice it better. You get what you emphasize and apparently we're not emphasizing that enough. Shoot, that's my responsibility."

The offense must protect the football, and the defense must turn it over. Seattle’s only takeaway in the last three games was safety Rayshawn Jenkins’ 102-yard fumble return touchdown against the Giants that was at the end of a poor defensive drive. The Seahawks won’t win football games that way.

Never mind the fact most of the turnovers have come at critical points where Seattle has a chance to tie the game or take a lead. It’s plaguing this team.

Geno Smith’s bad night

Oct 10, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) passes against the San Francisco 49ers during the second quarter at Lumen Field. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

One of Smith’s biggest criticisms as Seattle’s quarterback is his lack of a signature win. Even one win against the 49ers would help him in that area. He couldn’t manage that on his 34th birthday.

Through four career games against San Francisco as Seattle’s starter, Smith has completed 68.6 percent of his passes for 1,159 yards (289.8 per game), four touchdowns and five interceptions. He finished Thursday’s game 30-of-52 passing for 312 yards with one touchdown and two picks.

Unlike a few of his interceptions this season, both on Thursday have to be credited to Smith. The second appeared to be a lazy route by Metcalf that was undercut by the defensive back, but that doesn’t take any blame off of Smith for throwing it. As previously mentioned, the turnovers are an issue for Seattle, and Smith looked as bad as he has in a long time versus the 49ers.

If he wants top-end quarterback money, Smith has to beat Seattle’s rivals or win a playoff game — at least once. He hasn’t done that yet.

Run defense remains a weakness

Seattle allowed 228 rushing yards to the 49ers, their highest total of the season. That was without Christian McCaffrey in the lineup. Jordan Mason and Guerendo, the team’s second- and third-string backs, gashed Seattle for 172 yards between the two of them.

Over the last three games, Seattle has given up an average of 173 yards on the ground per game. Like the turnover battle, that area is reaching a crisis point for the Seahawks. It has to get fixed if the team has any hope of being competitive in the latter half of the season.

"We're either stopping them right now at the line of scrimmage or the ball is spitting and it's explosive," Macdonald said. "When that happens on the frontline, it's guys getting out of their gaps, second level not fitting correctly, and not getting it on the ground in the third level. That's what's going on."

But the defense as a whole has been bad. Opposing quarterbacks have completed 73.8 percent of their passes for 804 yards and seven touchdowns to zero interceptions over the three-game skid. Neither phase is complementing the other, and it’s making it too easy for Seattle’s opponents.

Up next

The Seahawks face the Atlanta Falcons (3-2) on the road at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 20. Atlanta is riding two straight victories into a road game versus the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, Oct. 13 for their Week 6 contest.

If the Falcons lose to the Panthers, they will enter the Week 7 contest with the same record as the sliding Seahawks.