Frustrations Boiling Over For Underachieving Seahawks' Defense

While the San Francisco 49ers deserve credit for their fireworks display on Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks made things too easy for their division rivals once again with coverage miscues, run fit breakdowns, and poor tackling, putting their season on the brink.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Looking to even the score after losing to the San Francisco 49ers at home on Thanksgiving night, the Seattle Seahawks entered Sunday's rematch at Levis Stadium with no shortage of confidence despite riding a three-game losing streak.

But in a matter of seconds, the wind already had been taken out of Seattle's upset-seeking sails with San Francisco's potent offense wasting no time busting out the dynamite. MVP front-runner Christian McCaffrey took a pitch to the left from quarterback Brock Purdy and quickly cut back against the grain with five defenders outside of the numbers in pursuit, turning on the afterburners and racing past safety Jamal Adams on a scintillating 72-yard run to open the game.

One play later, backup running back Jordan Mason punched the ball into the end zone to give the 49ers a 7-0 lead just 54 seconds into action. In what has become an unideal tradition for the Seahawks defense, extra preparation ultimately didn't matter as their rivals ambushed them with big play after big play in a 28-16 victory.

“We came in here buckled up, ready to go play these guys, and we just got out played by their guys on offense too many times to win the game today," coach Pete Carroll said bluntly after the game. "They had a bunch of explosive plays doing the things that they do. There's nothing new, just stuff that they did. They executed really well. ... There were too many explosive plays to hold these guys in check, so we’ve got to give them a lot of credit. They're a good club and had we done those things that would've been a much tighter football game."

If the 49ers unveiled several new wrinkles on their way to 527 total yards of offense and nearly 10 yards per play, the end result may not have been quite as maddening. After all, the Seahawks went into Sunday's contest as a double-digit underdog against one of the NFL's best all-around teams and few outside of the locker room expected them to pull off an upset against an opponent that beat them by 18 points just three weeks ago.

But as Carroll bemoaned, San Francisco didn't do anything new or unexpected. The coaching staff had seen McCaffrey rip off big runs on toss sweeps, Deebo Samuel torch defenses on deep crossing routes, and George Kittle dominate on play action passes in the middle of the field. They catered the defensive game plan accordingly to be ready for those looks, and in the end, it didn't matter.

Nothing is more demoralizing for a football team than knowing what an opponent intends to do schematically and still not being able to stop it. As has been the case for the past two seasons losing five consecutive games in the rivalry in lopsided fashion, the Seahawks didn't have many answers for Purdy, McCaffrey, Samuel, and the rest of the 49ers offensive juggernaut, yielding a total 12 explosive plays on the afternoon.

"There was nothing new about those things," Carroll stated. "We didn't execute well enough to stop those opportunities. That's the stuff we practiced and we needed to come through and make those plays. We didn't do it.”

For a brief spell, after quarterback Drew Lock hooked up with DK Metcalf for a 31-yard touchdown to tie the game, the Seahawks found their groove on defense. Over the next three possessions, they forced a pair of three-and-outs and safety Julian Love made an impressive diving interception after receiver Brandon Aiyuk couldn't bring in an errant first down throw by Purdy, setting the offense up with great field position.

Even after halftime, the defense came through with a handful of stops, including Love punching the ball out of Aiyuk's hands at the end of a 30-yard reception, allowing cornerback Riq Woolen to recover the fumble deep in opposing territory.

But each time it looked like Seattle finally had a beat on San Francisco's offense, with Lock and company unable to cash in on either turnover, the flood gates opened again with Purdy taking to the air. With 8:24 to go in the second quarter, the offensive line did a great job picking up a double A-gap blitz by Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks, allowing the second-year quarterback to loft a 54-yard touchdown strike to Samuel, who had slipped past Adams in his deep safety zone in coverage.

Speaking with reporters after the game, Adams took the sword for his coverage mishap, admitting he had zeroed in on a dig route by the outside receiver and failed to pick up Samuel until the speedy receiver already had zoomed past him.

"As a defender, you have to play with great eyes and great discipline. If you don't do those things, you give up shots," Adams told reporters after the game. "Obviously, I was sitting and waiting on the dig and they brought Deebo over the top. It was just a bang-bang play, I was too short and I was sitting flat-footed."

Unfortunately, Adams wasn't the only Seahawks defensive back who got roasted on Sunday. Caught peeking in the backfield early in the fourth quarter, Love tried to hook Kittle as he quickly got beat by an inside release, but the star tight end fought through the illegal contact and reeled in a 44-yard touchdown anyway. In the closing moments, Kittle beat Diggs for a 27-yard reception to ice the game, proving to be a problem all day long.

Giving up chunk plays in bunches and plagued by missed tackles, the Seattle Seahawks didn't have an answer for Deebo Samuel and the San Francisco 49ers' four-headed monster / © Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

On top of Kittle's exploits, Aiyuk quietly caught six passes for 126 yards, including a 45-yard reception in the third quarter that set up a short touchdown run by Samuel. Those three star players each averaged north of 21 yards per reception for the game and combined for 351 receiving yards and two touchdowns, making mincemeat of Seattle's beleaguered secondary in an embarrassing performance.

Further magnifying the damage, McCaffrey rushed for 145 yards on just 16 carries, averaging 9.1 yards per carry and rushing for 12 or more yards on four of those carries. Whether through the air or on the ground, the 49ers did whatever they wanted against the Seahawks with little resistance, toying with their rivals before slamming the door shut on them in the final 15 minutes to lock up a playoff spot.

From Diggs' perspective, Seattle's persistent issues on defense aren't due to a lack of talent or poor preparation from the coaching staff. Instead, much to the veteran's aggravation, the unit continues to be plagued by the same assignment breakdowns and sloppy tackling week after week, which has helped put the team on the brink of playoff elimination after a 5-2 start.

“I feel like you can have the talent. I’ve been on less talented defenses that’s been more technique-sound and more in tune to what’s going on. It’s cool to be talented," Diggs remarked. "But I’ve played this game a long time, not by being talented. I’ve played this game by being consistent in my approach and what I do each and every week. At some point we got to learn from mistakes and go from there.”

With four games left to play, jobs undoubtedly will be on the line as the Seahawks barely cling onto playoff hopes amid the longest losing streak of the Carroll era. Defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt will be under the microscope, as will high-priced veterans such as Adams and Diggs, who may be playing for their futures in the Pacific Northwest beyond 2023 over the next month.

For those looking for reasons for optimism heading into the final quarter of the season, Seattle did manage to force San Francisco to punt five times and generated a pair of turnovers. Few teams have had that much success slowing down Purdy and company, even if the final stat line painted a far different picture, and the unit's talent could be seen in flashes against top competition.

If the Seahawks can bottle up how they played for 60 percent of Sunday's game and find a way to perform for four quarters while cutting down on the explosives allowed, the defense has a chance to rebound, especially with several upcoming opponents near the bottom of the NFL in scoring. But until the group actually demonstrates such consistency on the field and plays to their talent level by cutting down on self-inflicted mistakes, it's hard to see a pathway to the postseason.

Seahawks Rapid Reaction: 'Hawks Blown Up By Explosives Again, Lose 28-16 to 49ers