Jamal Adams, Seattle Seahawks.
Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks went into hostile territory at Levi’s Stadium and left with a 28–21 win. Here are our Dud and Stud of the big win over NFC West rival San Francisco.
Chris Carson had a bad day accounting for 31 yards on 11 touches (2.82 average yards per play). There aren’t many games that Carson is a non-factor and gets outplayed by another Seahawk running back.
It’s not all Carson’s fault because his line didn’t block for him. But 12’s have seen Carson, time and again, make something out of nothing. He’ll be back.
It sure felt like San Francisco had someone in the Seattle Seahawks backfield all game. Once again, Seattle’s offensive line disappointed. They gave up seven tackles for loss. Yes, the Niners have one of the best defensive fronts in football. Still, that’s too many negative yard plays.
In addition to failing Carson, the O-line also gave San Francisco the green light to go after Russell Wilson. He had an average of 1.7 seconds in the pocket, nowhere near enough time to let plays develop. Many of the Seahawks’ big plays came as a result of RW3’s improvisation skills.
Another week, another poor performance turned in by the Seattle Seahawks defensive line. Another week and another no-name running back shredded them. Fourth-stringer Trey Sermon gained 89 yards on 19 carries which were more than double his career output.
To make matters worse, 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had plenty of time to sit in the pocket and pick apart the secondary. The defensive line consistently failed to get pressure on the quarterback.
It wasn’t until San Francisco lost left tackle Trent Williams and Garoppolo for the game that they finally made some headway. Of course, Jimmy G.’s replacement Trey Lance often ran through what little pass rush the Seahawks mustered.
Bobby Wagner led the team in tackles again this week and also did a steady job in pass coverage.
D.K. Metcalf – Not an overwhelmingly great week, but his 64 receiving yards was 43 percent of the total, and he had a touchdown.
Carson wasn’t producing, so the Seahawks gave his backup Alex Collins more work. It was a move that paid off handsomely. Collins ran for 44 yards on 10 carries and added another 34 on a pair of receptions.
It was his fourth quarter 14-yard touchdown run that put the final nail in San Francisco’s coffin. Collins made a nifty cutback, then exploded through the hole, virtually untouched, to get to the end zone. Exactly what the Seahawks needed when they needed it.
Russell Wilson didn’t light up the stat sheet, but he had a classic RW3 game. His protection was below adequate all day, so Russ did what Russ does best, improvise. He made plays.
A great example was his touchdown run in the third quarter. San Francisco flushed Wilson out of the pocket. He went left and took off down the side for a 16-yard score. On the next drive, Russ spun away from a would-be pass rusher, found some space, and threw a bullet to Freddie Swain in the end zone.
We could have included Seattle’s cornerbacks in the Duds, but their safeties stepped up to make a huge difference. Jamal Adams, Quandre Diggs, Marquise Blair, and Ryan Neal all had good games. Whether it was coming up to stop a run from going for big yards, pass coverage, or reading the quarterback, a Seahawks safety was almost always in the camera shot.
Jamal Adams had one of his most complete games since coming to the Emerald City. Some might look at the stat sheet, see he made six tackles, and think Adams wasn’t very involved. They’d be wrong. The Prez made his presence known and helped take away the middle.
Diggs had a key first quarter pick which stopped the Niners from gaining momentum after Seattle’s offense stalled on their second drive. He also made some big hits. The duo teamed with MLB Bobby Wagner to keep Niners All-Pro tight end George Kittle in check.
Blair did a good job covering the slot and disguising coverages. That was important when the 49ers had to go with inexperienced quarterback Trey Lance after Garoppolo left the game with an injury. It was also good to see Neal take regular snaps after sitting out much of the first three games.
Who were your Seattle Seahawks Dud and Stud from Sunday? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.