Seahawks bounce back in a big way with 37-27 win over 49ers

A relatively stress-free win for the Seattle Seahawks? Man, 2020 just keeps throwing us curveballs.

In by far their best performance of the season, the Seahawks (6-1) bounced back from last week’s heartbreaking overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals by dispatching the San Francisco 49ers (4-4) by a score of 37-27 on a beautiful November afternoon at CenturyLink Field. Russell Wilson threw for 261 yards and four touchdown passes, and most importantly had zero interceptions for the first time since Week 3. DK Metcalf had a career-best game with 12 catches for 161 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while rookie Deejay Dallas got into the end zone twice in his first NFL start.

Defensively, the 27 points is a bit unfair in terms of how well the Seahawks played. The undermanned and otherwise much-maligned defense played outstanding football through three quarters. Jimmy Garoppolo was beaten up, sacked three times and ineffective throughout the game. Nick Mullens came in and led three touchdown drives but it was far too late. Hats off to Bobby Wagner for two sacks and otherwise amazing play, as well as former 49ers DB DJ Reed having a major impact in his debut with an early interception and a couple of pressures that led to sacks.

Seattle is still atop the NFC West and they got great help elsewhere with the Los Angeles Rams losing to the Miami Dolphins. They’re now a game ahead of the Cardinals (who hold the tiebreaker), two clear of the Rams, and three ahead of the 49ers with a tiebreaker advantage.

1st Half

The Seahawks got the ball and immediately went three-and-out. San Francisco picked up one first down and then on 3rd and 5 they ran a very bad wildcat play which Damontre Moore and Stephen Sullivan (!!) blew up to force the punt. Unfortunately the punt was so great that it pinned Seattle at their own 1. Predictably this led to a Seahawks punt.

San Francisco’s Jamycal Hasty fumbled the ball on the next possession, but because Ryan Neal was out of bounds in his attempt to recover, the Niners retained the ball... for all of one play. Former 49ers CB DJ Reed was able to intercept Jimmy Garoppolo on 3rd down in field goal range to deny points at one end and help lead to points at the other. Seattle went on a 7-play, 86-yard drive culminating in a 46-yard catch-and-run for DK Metcalf. 6-0 Seahawks.

This is the Seahawks defense, so they had to immediately give up a touchdown after getting a touchdown. The 49ers took off more than half of the 2nd quarter on a 14-play, 75-yard drive and scored on a 1-yard Jamycal Hasty touchdown run. 7-6 49ers.

Back came the Seahawks with an 8-play, 81-yard drive that featured a whole lot of DK Metcalf. He had the 35-yard grab to put them in the red zone, and after a Deejay Dallas touchdown was overturned, Metcalf sonned Emmanuel Moseley for his second TD of the game. 13-7 Seahawks.

In a miracle, the Seahawks got pressure on Jimmy Garoppolo and Bobby Wagner sacked him on the blitz. Seattle got the ball back at their own 32 with 1:12 left and a timeout in their pocket. The drive was a terrible three-and-out but Michael Dickson’s 65-yard punt led the 49ers to call it a half.

2nd Half

The 49ers received the opening kick to begin the 2nd half and went three-and-out thanks to a failed reverse and another sack by Bobby Wagner. A hat tip to DJ Reed for the initial pressure and it was his missed sack that led to Wagner’s clean-up hit.

Seattle marched down the field on a 9-play, 63-yard drive and after Deejay Dallas may have blown the playcall on 2nd and goal, he was wide open on 3rd and goal for his first NFL touchdown. 20-7 Seahawks.

Dante Pettis’ return to Seattle was an unwelcome one, as he took a huge hit on the ensuing kickoff and the ball was jarred loose by Cody Barton and the ball was recovered by Nick Bellore at the 49ers’ 21. A 6-play, 21-yard drive featured multiple third down conversions including this sick TD to David Moore. 27-7 Seahawks.

The beatdown of Jimmy Garoppolo continued as the impressive blitz schemes led to him getting sacked again on a 3rd down. That would be the end of his day after Alton Robinson wrapped him up. Seattle tacked on a field goal early in the 4th quarter to make it a 23-point lead by the time Nick Mullens entered the game. 30-7 Seahawks.

Mullens was able to engineer an 11-play, 79-yard drive that ended in a walk-in one-yard score for Jerick McKinnon. He was 7/10 for 77 yards on that series, far better than Garoppolo’s efforts before he left. 30-14 Seahawks with 9:36 left.

Inevitably, Seattle was unable to burn a lot of time off the clock and gave up another touchdown to San Francisco. Ross Dwelley, filling in for the injured George Kittle, was open for a 16-yard score. The two-point conversion to Jerick McKinnon was initially ruled good but upon review it was short of the goal-line. 30-20 Seahawks with 4:16 left.

Will Dissly recovered the semi-surprise onside kick at the 49ers’ 47, and they had another opportunity to burn clock and/or get another touchdown. Well they only took off 43 seconds but they got a Deejay Dallas rushing score to ice it. 37-20 Seahawks.

Oh yeah, Brandon Aiyuk got garbage time points to end the day. 37-27 Seahawks FINAL.

Seahawks injury report

DE Damontre Moore got dinged up in the 4th quarter but he appears to be fine.

Next week’s opponent

Seattle travels to upstate New York for a big showdown with the AFC East leading Buffalo Bills (6-2). Kickoff time is 10 AM PT on FOX on Sunday, November 8th.