It was a back-and-forth affair in the rainy, slippery conditions on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, where the Seahawks lost in overtime to the 49ers by a score of 26-23. The Seahawks have now dropped to 8-6 on the year, and their playoff aspirations will be on hold for at least another week.
The game was Seattle’s first overtime contest since their 6-6 tie with the Arizona Cardinals back in 2016, but a costly penalty on third-string guard Ethan Pocic forced Seattle to punt – which allowed San Francisco to march down the field and kick a game-winning field goal.
Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson rebounded from a disastrous game against the Vikings last Monday, throwing for 237 yards and two touchdowns. Both touchdowns went to Doug Baldwin, who had a huge impact on this game. He finished with a team-leading 77 yards on four receptions.
Seattle once again ran the ball well, with Chris Carson leading the charge by racking up his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season. With Rashaad Penny out, Carson and Mike David handled the majority of the rushing duties, and also hauled in a combined 14 receptions for 92 yards.
A knee injury knocked safety Bradley McDougald out of the game, which created a lot of confusion for Seattle’s secondary, who were once again exploited by quarterback Nick Mullens. Mullens finished 20-for-29 for 275 yards and a touchdown – giving him a combined 679 yards passing in two games against the Seahawks.
A few huge sacks by Jarran Reed at the end of the game gave Seattle some momentum, but ultimately it was a lackluster game by the defense and the special teams.
Penalties also had a huge impact on this game, with Seattle getting penalized 14 times for 148 yards, well over twice as many yards as San Francisco.
Seattle will need to regroup quickly with the 11-3 Kansas City Chiefs coming to town next Sunday. Seattle needs to win at least one more game in order to guarantee themselves a spot in the playoffs.
