Defense leads Seahawks to 1st away victory of the season

The Seattle Seahawks got their swagger back on defense and received solid offensive contributions from Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch in a 20-3 away victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

Coach Jim Tomsula announced no swift personnel moves Friday but said player by player evaluations are being revisited, in the wake of the 49ers 20-3 defeat Thursday night to the Seattle Seahawks. He was, also, sacked six times by the Seahawks defense. Despite that, Wilson still threw two interceptions and was sacked five times himself. The 49ers were 1-for-11 on third downs, and that just killed their chances of scoring through the game.

A look at big picture fundamentals in Thursday night’s game should provide a few clear insight about the mess in San Francisco.

HAMPERED HYDE: Carlos Hyde played on an injured left foot and was limited to 40 yards on 11 carries.

Added tight end Vernon Davis: “We’ve had our struggles with Seattle”.

Former Australian rugby league star Jarryd Hayne was inactive for San Francisco for the first time this season. For an idea at how inept Seattle’s offense has been this season, the Seahawks needed six plays from the 49ers three yard line to push the ball over for a touchdown and their running back had to leap in at that.

It seems impossible that the Seahawks could fold in the fourth quarter against this team … but they did it against the Lions, so nothing is sacred. Toss in five sacks of Colin K and Seattle looked solid on the road. Dressed in a sharp light-brown suit, the 35-year old greeted a couple friends he recognized in passing while starting a long walk down a tunnel to the team bus.

After the break, the Niners finally got on the board with a 35-yard Phil Dawson field goal. It’s nearly as if the 49ers call the opposite play that should be run on any given down. “This team is three years removed from the Super Bowl and they put out this product”.

“The Seahawks’ defense is healthy, and the team has to play only one game in the next 23 days”.

Where do they go from here, with the playoffs seemingly out of reach for a second straight year, even though coach Jim Tomsula says they’ll “fight like crazy” until they’re officially eliminated? The offensive problems revolve around Kaepernick’s inconsistency, but there are no other real options on the roster.

He s got a swelled-up thumb, Tomsula said. Perhaps it is time to mix things up a little bit here and do the unexpected. You have everyone wanting to blame Colin Kaepernick, when he virtually has no time on every dropback. “They lost a darn good coach and a few really good players”. We got the ball for the last three or four minutes, whatever it was, and we take a knee at the end of the game.

Defensive end Cliff Avril said though the Seahawks were the focus of much discussion after yet another fourth-quarter collapse against the Panthers, the mood at the team’s facility in Renton was workmanlike. After that, there’s a home game against Atlanta at Levi’s for the 49ers on November 8.

” Last 16 games: 270-for-456 (59.2 percent) for 3,108 yards and 14 touchdowns, with 10 interceptions and 58 sacks”.