Seahawks Fourth Down Decision Among Reasons for Doom in 17-13 Loss to 49ers
SEATTLE, Wash. — In just about every game in the history of organized football, a quick decision must be made at least once.
To go, or not to go.
Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald faced that moment late in his team’s 17-13 loss in the season-opener to San Francisco Sunday at Lumen Field. With Seahawks fans yelling “goooo” in unison, Macdonald made the decision on fourth-and-short to break a 10-10 tie with 3:28 to go by using kicker Jason Myers’ leg.
The Seahawks took the lead, but it turned out to be temporary.
Clutching a three-point lead, the defense didn’t come through for Macdonald the way it had for most of Sunday’s game. San Francisco drove down the field, and backup tight end Jake Tonges out-muscled Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen for what turned out to be the game-winner.
Of course, there’s an alternate history of this game we’ll never see. What if?
Macdonald said he considered going for it before that fateful 49ers drive.
“I just felt like, let’s take a lead and let’s go play ball.”
Unfortunately, not enough ball was played to support Macdonald’s call.
With the benefit of hindsight, it’s easy to question. While third-string quarterbacks are not typically on the active roster for game days, rookie third-round draft pick Jalen Milroe was one option to pick up that yard. A powerful runner at 6-2, 216 pounds, Milroe ran the ball once for a yard in only action on Sunday in his first NFL game. A Milroe “tush push” was among many options to call on fourth and short.
All sound possible — unless the play doesn’t work.
“I guess you look back on it now and say ‘Oh yeah, it sure would have been great to have gone for it,’” Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp said. “I trust the decision-makers here and what they’re doing with what the analytics say, and also just what those guys are feeling in terms of the course of the game.”
The course of the game showed that every yard was hard to earn. Seattle rushed 26 times for 84 yards, including 10 for 20 from running back Kenneth Walker III.
Finding a way to get that yard, though, at the very least makes things harder for the San Francisco, which would have been forced to burn all its timeouts. Best case for the 49ers is that they get the ball back with under three minutes to go. Best case for Seattle is it picks up the yard and perhaps another first down to set up points as the final seconds fall away.
Quarterback Sam Darnold, asked if he felt the team should have gone for it, kept his opinion to himself.
“First of all, it’s not my decision,” said Darnold, who passed for 150 yards in his Seahawks debut. “And second of all, that’s a tough call. “I know whatever Mike wants to do in that situation, we believe fully in that. If we want to kick a field goal, great. If we want to go for it, great.”
The ending was not great, though. The 49ers drove down the field for a touchdown, and the Seahawks came up short when Darnold fumbled the ball away at the San Francisco 9-yard line inside the final minute to seal it.
For Kupp, who gained six yards on third-and-7 to set up the fourth down in question, there was more to the loss than Macdonald’s decision.
“Shoot, I would have liked to find a way to convert on that third down,” he said. “Get my foot in the ground and get us that extra yard. So, there’s a lot of things that go into it.”
