This was an all-around terrific effort by a reeling football team desperate to cling to some good news. They looked like garbage against Miami, they looked like hot, slimy garbage against the Rams, so it was important to come out against San Fran and dominate.
Christine Michael got the ball rolling with his two first quarter touchdowns. He gashed ’em early and we got to go on cruise control the rest of the way.
We got Jimmy Graham involved early and often, even taking advantage of his immense size on a 3rd & Long jump ball, as well as a red zone touchdown. He had 100 yards on 6 catches.
Doug Baldwin was an unstoppable force, notching career highs with 8 catches for 164 yards and a TD.
Tyler Lockett didn’t play a whole lot – part of that was the flow of the game, part of that was to rest him a little bit after getting nicked up last week – but he still showed up with a long punt return.
The offensive line was MUCH improved in their run blocking, and did a lot better at pass protection as well, allowing Russell Wilson plenty of time to find receivers deep down field. Nevertheless, it’ll be nice to get Ifedi back this week.
Of course, all eyes are on Russell Wilson. He looked a little more spry with that right ankle, compared to the week prior, but he wasn’t quite quick enough to avoid a vicious horsecollar tackle that subsequently resulted in the defender falling on his left leg and spraining his knee. It looks like something he’ll be able to play on – with a brace – but this puts us in a VERY similar situation as we were against the Rams: going on the road, against a super talented D-Line, where our quarterback won’t be able to run like he normally can. Our BYE week can’t come soon enough.
The defense was its usual stout self, and even managed to finally force a turnover on a deflected pass! We held the 49ers to 3 points through 3 quarters, and had upwards of a 37-3 lead at one point before they tacked on 15 garbage-time points at the end. Not ideal for a unit looking to lead the league in fewest points given up, but something I’ll forgive, because who cares? This was a blowout! A rare, satisfying blowout.
Kam Chancellor and Bobby Wagner were the stars of the show for me. They were all over the field, making sure the 49ers failed to convert the overwhelming majority of their 3rd downs (they were 4 of 15 overall, but all of those conversions were on their final two drives of the day). DeShawn Shead had a nice bounceback game against inferior competition as well.
It’s an anxious time to be a Seahawks fan. We could be looking at many weeks more before Wilson’s fully healthy, and it seems like any hit could put him right back into a brace or a heavily-taped situation. These are the types of injuries that can easily come back if you’re not careful, and if you’re not able to build up the muscle around those joints. If this is something that lingers throughout the season, I fear we’re going to be derailed before we even get going on this thing.