Seattle Seahawks Knock Off San Francisco 49ers With 17-7 Victory

For one drive, it looked like things were back to the way they used to be. Colin Kaepernick led the San Francisco 49ers offense down the field with a deep pass followed by some short, hard ones. Frank Gore ran through the Legion of Boom and scored the go-ahead touchdown early in the second quarter. Was this the balance of the 49ers season tipping before our eyes?

Turns out no, it wasn’t. The Seattle Seahawks shut their rivals out the rest of the way, winding up with a 17-7 victory in front of the CenturyLink Field faithful. The loss was San Francisco’s third straight, two of which were to the ‘Hawks, and officially eliminated them from playoff contention. The victory means Seattle has a legitimate shot at winning the NFC West.

So much for this rivalry, at least for now. Jim Harbaugh and his temper tantrum lifestyle are hardly the irritant they should be because his team stinks almost as much as his diaper right now. Seahawks-49ers games used to be the pinnacle of entertainment, and now they’re blowouts. And make no mistake, luck isn’t playing much of a role in these outcomes.

Russell Wilson vs. Colin Kaepernick still isn’t a legitimate discussion. Wilson is better, and today he was (unsurprisingly) the superior quarterback. His interception to end the first half was ugly, but it also came at the time when it did the least damage. Russell went only 12 for 24 for 168 yards, but Kaepernick was 11 for 19 for 141.

While it really wasn’t that poor of a game for Kaepernick, who also added 46 yards with his feet, the big number here is one. That’s the number of touchdown passes Wilson threw, and it’s also one more than the number of TDs tossed by Kaepernick. San Francisco couldn’t even get themselves a field goal all game. That’s how good the defense was, again.

We could focus on 91 more yards for Marshawn Lynch. We could talk all we wanted about Jermaine Kearse‘s huge day full of long and timely receptions. We could spend our time reminiscing about Paul Richardson‘s touchdown catch and his emerging ability to get open when his quarterback needs him. But the real hero here was the LOB. Like it almost always is.

San Francisco piled up the yards in the first half, but couldn’t get more than the one touchdown to show for it. That’s because the Seahawks’ defense did everything it needed to and more to keep the 49ers out of scoring position. Bobby Wagner and Earl Thomas lead the way, as tends to happen. But it was Jordan Hill who sacked Kaepernick twice. Jordan Hill! This is your weekly reminder that this unit is as deep as it is deadly.

In all, the ‘Hawks sacked Kaepernick six times. Bruce Irvin and K.J. Wright were throwing dudes down on seemingly every play. The defense is going to draw some heat for allowing more yards than they have in a few weeks, but their opponents still only made it to the endzone once. This is still a top-flight defense playing at the top of their (or anyone’s) game.

Seattle is where offenses go to die. This felt like a competitve football game for a little while, then it so quickly wasn’t. The Seahawks still don’t have a great offense, but with a defense like this they absolutely don’t need to score like an upper-echelon squad. They don’t even need to score like a professional team. This isn’t just the best defense in the league, it’s the best defense anyone with an imagination could possibly dare to dream up. This group has very, very little room for improvement.

With two games to play, the Seahawks are within a win of the division crown. They play the team they’re chasing a week from today, and if they take that game, they’ll be one win away from completing a comeback that seemed impossible a few weeks ago. And then who’s to stop them from a second consecutive number one seed? It used to be hard to imagine the Seahawks making it through their second half schedule in one piece. Right now the only thing hard to imagine is this team ever losing again.