Seattle Seahawks: 4 Takeaways from 26-23 Loss to the 49ers

In a rough Sunday afternoon matchup, the Seattle Seahawks took their first loss to a team with a losing record. In a mix between bad special teams play and poor penalties, Seattle lost by three points after a short overtime bout.

The Seattle Seahawks were in prime shape to win this matchup, but this game didn’t feel right at the very beginning. With a missed extra point and a missed tackle by Sebastian Janikowski on an ensuing kickoff, Seattle started this game 6-7 with San Fransisco on top. The Seattle Seahawks and the 49ers fought back and forth until the end of regulation where they were tied 23-23.

Seatle won the toss going into overtime but could not get any points. The San Fransisco 49ers marched down the field with help from bad penalty calls on the Seattle Seahawks defense and kicked the game-winning field goal.

Sunday afternoon’s game was a rough game to watch. The refs were calling the game tighter than I have seen all season.

Here are a few takeaways from this weeks loss:

Penalties were Drive killers and Drive Extenders

The Seattle Seahawks committed 14 penalties throughout the game, unfortunately, most of those penalties came on crucial third downs on both offense and defense. During overtime, right tackle Germaine Ifedi committed a horrible holding call during what would have been a great passing play to running back J.D. McKissick. During the 49ers game-winning drive corner Shaquill Griffin was called for the worst defensive pass interference call I’ve ever seen.

Penalties killed a lot of the Hawks offensive drives and also put S.F. in scoring position a few times, as well. Seattle lost 148 yards due to penalties.

Chris Carson Was a Monster

Running Back Chris Carson ran for 119 yards on Sunday and caught another 29 yards worth. The second-year player is 87 yards away from reaching his first 1,000-yard season. He has been the workhorse of the Seattle Seahawks offense since the third game of the season.

Carson recorded his fourth 100+ yard rushing game this season. He has been the first “answer” at running back since the loss of Marshawn Lynch. In fact, he will be the first running back to start more than half the season since the retirement of Beast Mode. The Seattle Seahawks rush for nearly 155 yards per game which is first in the league.

SeaBass Mistakes could’ve been the losing factor

Seattle Seahawks Sebastian Janikowski may not be the whole reason why the Seahawks lost, but he didn’t help the cause. After Seattle’s first touchdown SeaBass shanked the point after. During the next kickoff, the 49ers return man, Richie James, beat everyone and had just SeaBass left at mid-field. Janikowski went from fish to matador as he just moved out of the way letting him score.

Janikowski needs to be more accurate. He needs to sacrifice himself on behalf of the team if he needs to make a tackle. At 6′ 1″ and 260 pounds SeaBass has the size. Additionally, he cannot miss PATs and field goals.

Could the 49ers field have something to do with it?

During the first half of the game on Garrett Celek‘s touchdown, safety slipped while he was crossing over the right hash. During the pregame warmup, SeaBass slipped while he was practicing kickoffs, he changed his cleat on his planting foot before the game.

The field in Santa Clara could’ve been a reason why there were so many missed tackles. It reminded me of the 2015 NFC Divisional game the Seahawks played in Carolina, the field was so slick that there were missed tackles left and right until they changed their cleats.

Pete Caroll told the sideline reporter that the team changed their cleats during halftime and the slipping seemed to stop.

dark. Next. Huskies Basketball: Takeaways from loss to Gonzaga

There is no reason to dwell on why we lost this game there is only moving forward. The Seattle Seahawks have one of their biggest games ahead against the Kansas City Chiefs, and with playoff hopes on the line, they better come to play.

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