Seattle Seahawks Brutal First Half Sets Tone in Thanksgiving Loss to San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers brutally stifled the Seattle Seahawks offense at Lumen Field in a dominating first half that ultimately set the tone for the rest of the game.

The Seattle Seahawks knew coming into their game against the San Francisco 49ers that there was a lot riding on both teams' division title hopes. But it appeared that Geno Smith and the offense didn't get the memo.

It was a defensive masterclass from 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks' unit as Smith, and the Seattle offense was rendered rudderless in a 31-13 Thanksgiving loss on Thursday at Lumen Field.

With the two-minute warning approaching in the first half, the Seahawks offense had just 15 total yards of offense, had only ran 14 plays and was 0 of 4 on third down. They only had the ball for 6:50 compared to San Francisco's 21:10.

Coming into the game, Seattle was ranked 30th for third down conversions (31.71 percent). The two teams worse than the Seahawks were the New York Giants and the New York Jets, which certainly isn't ideal.

The Seahawks offense struggled to get anything going against the 49ers defense / © Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

How much of that was down to Smith's tricep injury and whether he is 100 percent or not is unknown, but this type of performance is very un-Seattle-like as the Seahawks simply didn't fire a first-half shot or were allowed to.

With the Seahawks having a chance as the two-minute warning approached, a muffed punt allowed the 49ers to recover and continue the beatdown.

Seattle managed a field goal in its first offensive possession as a good kick return set Smith and Co. up in a good position.

But after that? It was brutal.

The Seahawks would then go punt, interception, punt, and punt, as the offense simply couldn't get anything going against this 49ers defense.

Smith led the Seahawks into field goal range as he got the ball back with under 30 seconds to go in the half. Jason Myers had a chance at a 53-yard field goal, but he missed to cap what was a bleak first half at Lumen Field.

Head coach Pete Carroll stated earlier in the week that his team had "closed the gap" on the 49ers, but if that first half was any indication, the gap couldn't be wider.