The Seattle Seahawks stormed into Santa Clara and Levi's Stadium and beat up on the San Francisco 49ers as Seattle avoided their third straight loss and falling to last place in the NFC West division.
This was the Seahawks team of the past two seasons with the defense playing like their normal self, and the offense running through Marshawn Lynch and the rushing attack. This game was, in a way, a repeat of last season's Thanksgiving Day game where Seattle also dominated the 49ers in a 19-3 win.
The Seahawks came out on fire as they forced a three and out when San Francisco got the ball to begin the game, then followed that up with a 12 play, 61 yard drive that took 6:36 and resulted in a Marshawn Lynch one yard touchdown run to get the Seahawks on the board early.
Seattle's defense was stout throughout the entire game, but especially in the first half as they forced a punt on each drive and pitched a shutout as well.
Seattle kept adding on as the 49ers' struggles continued. Following a short six play 35 yard drive, Steven Hauschka capitalized on a 49-yard field goal to put his side up 10-0.
Following another San Francisco punt, the Seahawks went 70 yards in five plays which was highlighted by a 43-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson to Tyler Lockett. The Seahawks were rolling as they held a 17-0 lead heading into the half.
In the second half, the scoring slowed down as both teams traded field goals. Phil Dawson capitalized on a 35-yard field goal with 1:21 left in the third following San Francisco's best drive of the night which stalled at the Seahawks 18 yard line. Then in the fourth, Hauschka kept his perfect season going as he nailed a 46-yard field goal. He is 16-for-16 on the season.
The offense did a nice job for Seattle, but it was the defense that really showed up and played arguably their best game of the season. The 49ers had more punts (9) than first downs (8) and were just 1-for-11 on first downs. Colin Kaepernick was also sacked six times including 3.5 sacks for Michael Bennett. The Seahawks outgained the 49ers by a 388-142 margin.
Tyler Lockett shined in the bright lights with another solid game as he was Seattle's leading receiver with five receptions for 79 yards and a touchdown. Jimmy Graham had just two receptions for 31 yards following a 100+ yard game a week ago.
Russell Wilson was sacked five times in this game, but ended with a solid night as he was 18-for-24 for 235 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions including 23 yards on the ground.
Marshawn Lynch, however, was the star for the Seahawks. He rushed for 122 yards on 27 carries while scoring a touchdown in the process.
Colin Kaepernick is now 1-6 in his career against the Seahawks and for his team, they have scored just 13 points in their last three games against their division rivals.
This was a big bounce back game for Seattle who now improve to 3-4 on the season while the 49ers fall to 2-5 and now sit in the cellar of the NFC West. The Seahawks will travel to Dallas to take on the Cowboys in week eight while San Francisco has another tough division matchup against the Rams looming.