Rapid Reaction: Seahawks Open Season With Heartbreaking 17-13 Loss to 49ers
SEATTLE, Wash. - For more than 55 minutes, the Seattle Seahawks appeared to be in firm control of their season opener. But in the blink of an eye, victory turned into an all-too-familiar defeat at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers as a late touchdown catch by tight end Jake Tonges sent them to a 17-13 loss at Lumen Field.
Struggling to move the ball for much of the afternoon, the Seahawks generated only 230 yards of total offense, with much of that production coming on an ill-fated final comeback attempt. Quarterback Sam Darnold completed 16 out of 23 passes for 150 yards with no touchdowns in his team debut, while Zach Charbonnet rushed for 47 yards and a touchdown and Jaxon Smith-Njigba paced the passing game with nine receptions for 124 yards. Ernest Jones and Josh Jobe each intercepted 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy and Julian Love stuffed the stat sheet on defense and special teams with 10 tackles, a sack, and a blocked field goal in the loss.
Here are five takeaways from a disappointing Week 1 loss for the ‘Hawks to their bitter rival:
1. The Darnold to JSN connection highlights an otherwise conservative passing approach.
Going into Sunday’s opener, at least from a national perspective, nobody was under a bigger microscope in Seattle than Darnold and his new-look receiving corps. Would they be able to sling the pigskin well enough to keep the offense afloat with Geno Smith now in Las Vegas and DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett with new teams? One week in, questions about the passing game certainly weren’t answered, and if anything, there may be more concerns than optimism after a largely underwhelming showing from the quarterback and his receivers.
Midway through the fourth quarter, while he had completed 68 percent of his 19 attempts, Darnold had yet to even hit the 100-yard mark with a dreadful 4.9 yards per attempt with the game plan being centered around quick passes and screens primarily. Nearly all of his 93 yards at that point had been directed to Smith-Njigba, who turned seven receptions into 73 yards in that time and later added a 40-yard catch late in the fourth quarter. But he also coughed up a back-breaking fumble in 49ers territory and threw a backward pass on an ill-fated third and long trick play out of bounds. No other receiver had more than 15 yards with the rest of the group mostly non-existent through more than 35 minutes of play.
Compounding matters, shortly after Smith-Njigba’s catch advanced Seattle to the opposing 14-yard line, pressure collapsed down on Darnold, whose passing hand struck tackle Abraham Lucas’ backside and resulted in the ball squirting out for a fumble. A red zone turnover sealed the team’s fate, as they couldn’t get past the finish line to secure the late comeback with the offense failing to come up big in the clutch.
For those who had skepticism about the receiving corps without Metcalf or Lockett’s speed, for one game at least, those worries seemed substantiated. But the play calling also deserves scrutiny with few attempts to push the ball downfield even being attempted, which makes it tougher to assess that group as a whole.
2. Albeit with a stronger finish, a very mixed bag for Seattle’s revamped line, rushing attack.
Since Day 1 of OTAs, the Seahawks’ coaching staff has put their money where their mouths are in regard to prioritizing the run game in offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s West coast scheme. That trend continued in Sunday’s opener, including 16 run plays compared to only 11 pass calls in the first half, though the sheer volume and efficiency weren’t anywhere close to the same productivity wise. Going into intermission, even with Darnold having a nine-yard scramble before half that set up a Myers field goal, they were averaging a paltry 3.1 yards per carry and had just 50 total yards on 16 runs.
Those numbers were skewed a bit by the fact Charbonnet had three runs inside the 10-yard line on Seattle’s lone touchdown drive before finally punching it in from a yard out. Still, it was far from the type of performance that Kubiak had to be hoping for after seeing the run game come to life during the preseason, and the jump in competition created significant issues for the offensive line. On several occasions, blockers whiffed on defensive linemen off the snap, leading to running backs getting ambushed behind or at the line of scrimmage.
On the plus side, Seattle did get a little bit more traction going on the ground in the final quarter. Ken Walker III and Charbonnet had several runs of five-plus yards on the final scoring drive, setting up Myers’ second field goal to briefly put the Seahawks back out in front 13-10. But overall, it was quite a disappointing effort with 84 rushing yards and 3.2 yards per carry, far from the type of physical rushing attack that the staff has been trying to build this summer.
3. Bend but don’t break taken to the limit by opportunistic, somewhat lucky ‘Hawks defense.
Outgained by more than 150 yards, the stat sheet is a deceiving one for the Seahawks defense coming out of the opener. Love and the rest of the unit spent 15 more minutes on the field than the offense, but even with that workload, until the very end of regulation, they did everything in their power to secure a Week 1 win thanks to impressive theatrics on their own side of the field.
From the final minute of the first half through the third quarter, the 49ers advanced the football deep into Seahawks’ territory three different times, including having 1st and goal at the six-yard line and progressing into the red zone on another possession. But they didn’t score a single point on any of those drives, as Purdy got picked off by a leaping Jones, who high-pointed the football after dropping back into his zone for a drive-killing interception early in the third quarter, along with having a field goal shanked off the right up right and another one being blocked by Love. Even on the next possession after those, San Francisco still only mustered a field goal after getting into the red zone again after Riq Woolen denied a touchdown with a pass breakup in the end zone extending his arm out in front of Ricky Pearsall, scoring three total points on those four drives.
Following the opening touchdown drive, the Seahawks surrendered a mere field goal while forcing two punts, picking off two passes, and generating the blocked field goal over their next eight possessions, defending every blade of grass while also benefiting from some poorly executed red zone plays by the 49ers. Up until the closing moments, that seemed like it would be more than enough for a victory.
4. Misplays in coverage down the stretch spoiled an otherwise stout defensive effort.
Unfortunately, NFL games last 60 minutes, and thanks in part to Seattle’s anemic offense, the defense had the ball put in their court again to try to salvage the game. With the Seahawks up by three and inside six minutes to play, Purdy lofted a deep ball down the left sideline to Pearsall, and as the ball left the quarterback’s hand, Woolen appeared to be in great position to make another big play on the football. But as the pass spun through the air, he seemed to lose track of it in the air with a late reaction and the receiver separated from him, hauling the ball in for a 45-yard reception inside the Seahawks’ 25-yard line.
Four plays later, after San Francisco had moved inside the five-yard line, Purdy scrambled away from the pocket to his right on third down and Seattle appeared to have all of the receivers in play locked up. The quarterback fluttered a lobbed pass toward the right sideline in the end zone to tight end Jake Tonges, and again, Woolen appeared to have a beat on the ball, jumping up for what looked to be a gimme interception opportunity. But he mistimed his jump and played the ball somewhat passively, allowing Tonges to slide in front of him and steal a touchdown catch that silenced the sellout crowd on the play that ultimately won it for the visitors.
5. Special teams proves to be special and then some making winning plays.
For those desiring a silver lining - there’s no such thing as a moral victory in the NFL - the Seahawks dominated in the third phase of the game from start to finish, generating the plays necessary to win against a tough divisional opponent. After struggling in kick and punt coverage in the preseason, the team held Skyy Moore to under 10 yards per return on four attempts in the punt game and stuffed Isaac Guerendo after a muffed catch for a 16-yard gain on the lone kick return. Meanwhile, after kicker Jake Moody gifted Seattle a missed 27-yard field goal that doinked off the right upright, Love came flying off the edge and blocked the next next attempt in the third quarter, the second blocked field goal for him in as many seasons.
As for the kicking game, Myers got off to a fast start with 48 and 37-yard field goals, nailing both of his attempts that gave the Seahawks a three-point lead each time.. Michael Dickson also pinned the opposition inside the 15-yard line on his five punts for the afternoon, doing a rock solid job of helping with the field position battle in a low scoring affair.
