In their game against the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night, the Seattle Seahawks showed signs of life late in the first half, but they missed a chance to take the lead.
The Seattle Seahawks played arguably their worst game of the season in a loss to the San Francisco 49ers in week 2.
Headed into Thursday night’s match with the 49ers at lumen field, Seattle had a chance to right these wrongs in a huge late-season division game.
But despite a Seattle offence that showed signs of life late in the first half after an early struggle, Seahawks running back Travis’s homer had a costly fumble that flipped momentum and allowed the Niners to build a 14-3 lead headed into halftime.
The return of Seattle rookie running back Kenneth Walker 3 to the lineup hardly made an early impact for the struggling Seahawks rushing attack against the best running defence in the league.
The Seahawks attempted to launch this aspect of their offence early, but they were stymied by their position in the field. Seattle’s opening four drives resulted in three three-and-outs, totalling 11 yards.
The San Francisco 49ers were a bit consistent to start with two three-and-outs of their own heading into the second quarter but used a nine-play, 86-yard drive toward the end of the first quarter that feature seven touches from 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey and ended with rookie quarterback Brock Purdy connecting with tight end George Kittle for a 2- yard touchdown to give the Niners a 7-0 lead.
The Seahawks finally showed life on the shoulders of receiver DK Metcalf, who had back-to-back 13-yard catches to spark the offence midway through the second quarter. Once Seattle fell behind the chains once more, the two big plays appeared to be for nought, but quarterback Geno Smith managed to scramble his way to a tough 18-yard gain on third and 13.
The Seahawks were happy to accept the three points, especially considering how much of the first half had been spent on their offence. Ultimately, the Niners’ defence held up to force a 38-yard field goal from Jason Myers, making the score 7-3. Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs dropped the easiest of interceptions to potentially give Seattle a great field position at the end of the half, but his pass defence at least stopped the Niners on third down.
Suddenly, despite what was fixing to be a disastrous first half for the Seahawks was now one that could end with them in the lead, however, with less than a minute left, Homer’s fumble gave the Niners possession in the red zone, making it likely the greatest play of the first half for the Seahawks. Two plays later, McCaffery sprinted in for a touchdown to totally alter the course of the game and give San Francisco a 14-3 lead going into halftime.