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

Though they hung tough for most of the game with Drew Lock playing well under center, the Seattle Seahawks were undone once again by poor defense and untimely turnovers on offense, losing a fourth straight game for the first time in the Pete Carroll era.

Despite giving a valiant effort and trailing by only four points at halftime, Drew Lock and the Seattle Seahawks couldn't come through with enough plays down the stretch in a 28-16 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, extending their losing streak to four games.

Playing efficient football for most of the afternoon, Lock threw for 269 yards and DK Metcalf and Colby Parkinson each caught touchdowns in a losing effort. Julian Love provided the biggest splash plays for a defense that allowed 527 total yards, recording his first interception of the season and forcing a fumble.

Here are five quick observations from a brutal road loss at Levis Stadium:

1. Lock played admirably against a top-tier defense in his first start since 2021.

With Geno Smith's status unknown until a few hours before kickoff, Lock was thrust into his first start as a Seahawk without the benefit of a full week of practice reps. That's typically not a good recipe for success, especially against a top-three defense loaded with stars. However, with his team down seven points less than a minute into action, he calmly marched the offense down the field, completing a 21-yard pass to Metcalf and a nine-yard pass to Tyler Lockett on third down to move the chains. He capped off the drive delivering a back shoulder strike to Metcalf from 31 yards out to tie the game up, sneaking the ball just past the arms of Ambry Thomas in coverage.

After completing 11 out of 15 passes for 112 yards in the first half, Lock briefly got the Seahawks back within one score leading a three-play, 78-yard drive midway through the third quarter. Aided by a spectacular play by Ken Walker III, who bounced a short catch back to the left for a 27-yard gain, the veteran quarterback executed a fake double screen to find tight end Colby Parkinson wide open in the middle of the field for a 25-yard touchdown. Unfortunately, with his team trailing throughout the second half, he did uncork a pair of interceptions, including having a deflected fourth down pass picked off late in the fourth quarter that sealed Seattle's fate. Still, he completed 71 percent of his pass attempts and a pair of scores, doing the best he could amid difficult circumstances.

2. Playing behind schedule ultimately doomed Seattle offensively in back-and-forth affair.

As has been the case all season for the Seahawks regardless of who plays under center, the Seahawks struggled all afternoon to sustain drives. Following Lock's 3rd and 6 completion to Lockett that extended the opening possession and set up his touchdown throw to Metcalf, the team didn't convert another third down until the 8:32 mark in the third quarter when Lock again hooked up with Lockett on a 3rd and 8 opportunity. Unfortunately, they failed to convert on their other nine third down chances, and yardage to go stood out as the biggest obstacle preventing success.

On five of Seattle's third down failures, Lock and the offense needed to gain at least 10 yards to move the chains, allowing Nick Bosa, Chase Young, and company to pin their ears back coming after the quarterback. On their final eight failed conversions, they faced an average yards to go of 9.3 yards, often set back by poorly executed run plays or short pass attempts that went nowhere on early downs. With those struggles staying on schedule and a run game that failed to do much outside of two 23-yard runs by Zach Charbonnet, the offense couldn't get untracked, punting six times with a pair of interceptions on eight of their final 11 possessions. In a game with no margin for error against a superior opponent, that's simply not going to cut it.

3. Leaky run defense floods the basement as McCaffrey runs wild from the get go.

Early in the season, the Seahawks surprised many with a resurgent run defense that ranked in the top five in yards allowed and yards per carry allowed through eight weeks. But since getting gashed by the Ravens in Week 9, the defense has been frequently exposed due to poor run fits and contagious shaky tackling, a trend that continued right out of the gate on Sunday. On the first snap of the game, McCaffrey took a pitch to his left and with Jamal Adams and the entire defense over-pursuing towards the sideline, he cut back behind a block and found a huge crease, racing for a 72-yard gain before being tripped up by Boye Mafe. San Francisco scored on the next play to take a 7-0 lead just 54 seconds into the game.

Symbolizing how the game went for the Seahawks on defense in general, Jamal Adams found himself in trail on a 72-yard run by Christian McCaffrey on the first play from scrimmage / © Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

For the game, McCaffrey rushed 16 times for 145 yards, averaging north of nine yards per carry. At one point, he had 120 yards on just seven carries, consistently torching the Seahawks with his speed, elusiveness, and underrated contact balance powering through defenders. He finished with three carries of at least 20 yards, picking up a big chunk of that total after contact and taking advantage of Seattle's atrocious tackling on inside and outside runs. Even Mason, who only played a handful of snaps in reserve duty, rushed for 20 yards and a touchdown on just four carries as San Francisco dominated on the ground with 173 rushing yards and 7.5 yards per carry.

4. It's a broken record, but too many explosives allowed made early stops by Seattle's defense a moot point.

As if McCaffrey's big day on the ground wasn't enough, just as they did in the first matchup on Thanksgiving, the 49ers took to the air with great success against a defense that continues to be plagued by blown coverage assignments. For a brief spell, the Seahawks found a groove defensively, forcing a pair of three-and-outs and a turnover on a Julian Love interception on consecutive possessions. But just when it seemed like coordinator Clint Hurtt had found an answer for slowing Brock Purdy and company down, the second-year quarterback lofted a strike to Deebo Samuel, who had raced past a flat-footed Adams in the secondary on a skinny post route. Hitting the receiver in stride, Samuel put the home team back in front with a 54-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter.

With the Seahawks trailing by four early in the second half, Purdy went back to work, rolling out to his left to avoid pressure and buying time for Brandon Aiyuk to come open on a broken play, hitting the receiver on the numbers for a 45-yard gain. Moments later, Samuel punched it in to extend the advantage to 11 points. Even after Parkinson's touchdown cut the deficit back to five, the 49ers didn't waste time responding. Samuel picked up big yardage after the catch for a 30-yard gain into Seattle territory to open the possession and two plays later, George Kittle fought through a holding penalty on Love with an inside release to come free for a 44-yard back-breaking touchdown catch. In total, Purdy completed eight passes netting at least 20 yards though the air, carving up the Seahawks for 368 yards on just 19 completions.

5. Failure to score any points off a pair of turnovers came back to haunt Seahawks late.

Losing by 12 on the scoreboard, the Seahawks didn't come through with enough plays on either side of the football to have a chance to finish off an upset. In particular, failing to capitalize off of two turnovers stands out as a huge missed opportunity. Capping off an impressive three-drive sequence, Love dove to pick off a pass from Purdy that deflected off of Aiyuk's hands, giving his team excellent starting field position at the opposing 37-yard line. Even with an illegal contact penalty on Deommodore Lenoir extending the drive, however, the drive stalled out near midfield with Charbonnet getting stuffed for a three-yard loss and Lock throwing an incompletion to Jaxon Smith-Njigba on 3rd and 9.

Fast forwarding to the fourth quarter, moments after Lock's first interception landed in the hands of rookie safety Ji'ayir Brown, Seattle's defense came through again. At the tail end of a 30-yard catch by Aiyuk, Love punched the ball out of his hands from behind and cornerback Riq Woolen recovered, leaving San Francisco empty handed and gifting Lock and company another opportunity. But after Lockett snagged a 24-yard catch on a 1st and 20 play, the drive again sputtered with Lock getting sacked by Bosa and Smith-Njigba pouring salt on the wound with a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty, forcing a punt instead of going for it on 4th and 6. Even if those two drives would have resulted in only field goals, the Seahawks would have been within a score late, potentially changing the complexion of the game.

Drew Lock, Seahawks Hanging Tough With 49ers, Trail at Halftime