The Seahawks got back on track.
And they did so in emphatic fashion, with their most complete performance of the season.
One week after falling to Arizona in an agonizing overtime defeat, Seattle rebounded from its first loss with a dominant 37-27 victory over the 49ers on Sunday that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicated.
Russell Wilson and DK Metcalf starred once again, leading the league’s top-scoring offense to its sixth 30-plus-point game of the season. And the Seahawks’ much-maligned defense delivered its most encouraging showing of the year by far, holding the defending NFC champions to just seven points through three quarters.
Combined with losses by the Packers and Rams, it was part of a near-perfect weekend for Seattle. The Seahawks improved to 6-1 and regained sole possession atop the NFC playoff picture, where they hold a half-game lead over Tampa Bay in the race for the conference’s lone first-round bye. And Seattle now has a one-game lead in the NFC West over second-place Arizona, as well as a 1.5-game lead over the third-place Rams and a 2.5-game lead over last-place San Francisco.
Here’s a look back at some of the key storylines and takeaways from the Seahawks’ resounding win over their most bitter rival:
METCALF, LOCKETT MIGHT BE LEAGUE’S TOP WR DUO
Last week, it was Tyler Lockett with a career-best performance.
This week, it was DK Metcalf.
Metcalf added another sensational chapter to his superstar rise Sunday, catching 12 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns in the biggest statistical showing of his young career. It came one week after Lockett burned the Cardinals’ defense for 15 catches, 200 yards and three touchdowns.
The past two weeks have perfectly encapsulated the dilemma opposing defenses face.
Arizona cornerback Patrick Peterson shut down Metcalf last week, holding the star second-year receiver to just two catches for 23 yards. It was the only time this season Metcalf didn’t reach 90 receiving yards. But that left the Cardinals more vulnerable to Lockett, who responded with one of the best receiving performances in recent NFL history.
The opposite happened this week against the 49ers. San Francisco kept Lockett mostly in check, limiting him to four catches for 33 yards. But Russell Wilson turned instead to Metcalf, who exploded with six catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone.
Metcalf’s rare combination of size, speed and strength was on full display Sunday. The most impressive moment came on the final play of the first quarter, when the 6-foot-4 phenom showcased his blazing speed on a spectacular 46-yard catch-and-run touchdown. Metcalf caught the pass on the left side of the field, turned on the jets, bolted horizontally across the field, sped his way past two defenders while turning the corner, and then used a block from tight end Jacob Hollister to race down the right sideline to the end zone. No ordinary receiver would have scored on that play. But Metcalf, of course, is anything but ordinary.
Metcalf also showed his dangerous deep-threat ability with a 35-yard reception down the sideline in the second quarter. A few plays later, he demonstrated his strength by fighting through a defensive holding call and outmuscling San Francisco cornerback Emmanuel Mosley for a 2-yard touchdown on an end-zone slant. And throughout the game, Metcalf hauled in a slew of other catches on a variety of crisp, well-run short and intermediate routes.
With his latest star performance, Metcalf is on pace for 1,554 receiving yards and 16 touchdown catches this season. To put that in perspective, just two other receivers in NFL history — Calvin Johnson (2011) and Randy Moss (2003) — have ever posted at least 1,500 yards and at least 16 touchdowns in a season, according to Stathead.com. Both did so in their age-26 seasons. Metcalf is just 22 years old.
Lockett, meanwhile, is on pace for 1,314 receiving yards and 16 touchdown receptions. If both Metcalf and Lockett continue catching touchdown passes at their current rate, they would become the first teammates in NFL history to finish with at least 13 touchdown receptions in the same season, according to Stathead.com.
Furthermore, there have been just four instances in the NFL this season of a player posting at least 160 receiving yards and at least two touchdown catches in a game. Two of those performances have come by a Seahawks receiver in the past two weeks.
Metcalf’s emergence as a bona fide star this season has given Seattle the equivalent of two No. 1 wideouts. And when the league’s MVP front-runner is throwing to those same two receivers, that only makes them that much more dangerous.
For opposing defenses, it’s a pick-your-poison situation. It may be possible to slow down either Metcalf or Lockett. But keeping both of them in check? As the past two weeks have shown, that might be a near-impossible task.
WILSON BOUNCES BACK, CONTINUES MVP TEAR
DK Metcalf summed it up in his postgame press conference signoff: “The ‘Russ for MVP’ train is back on the tracks.”
After a scorching start to the season, Wilson hit a bump in the road with an uncharacteristic three interceptions in last week’s overtime loss to Arizona. It was his first multi-interception game since the 2018 season opener.
But Wilson bounced back with yet another MVP-caliber performance Sunday, completing 27 of 37 passes for 261 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran for 23 yards on six carries. It was already his fourth game this season with at least four touchdown passes.
Wilson now has 26 touchdown passes this season, which keeps him on pace to break Peyton Manning’s single-season record of 55 touchdown passes in 2013. Wilson is currently on pace for 59 touchdown passes.
OFFENSE KEEPS UP HISTORICALLY GOOD START
After a slow start on their first two possessions, Russell Wilson and the league’s highest-scoring offense got rolling and scored touchdowns on four of their next five drives. The result was yet another onslaught from a unit that’s on pace to be one of the highest-scoring offenses in NFL history.
Seattle has averaged 34.3 points per game this season, which is tied for the ninth-most by any team through its first seven games of a season since the 1970 NFL merger, according to Stathead.com. And if the Seahawks continue at that pace, they would finish as the seventh highest-scoring offense in NFL history since the league changed to a 16-team slate in 1978. The 2013 Broncos’ offense holds the record at 37.9 points per game.
The Seahawks have already scored at least 35 points four times this season. They are one of just nine teams since the 1970 merger to score 30-plus points in at least six of their first seven games. And their low-water mark of 27 points against Minnesota — which came in rainy and windy conditions — is higher than the per-game scoring averages of 22 other teams.
One key for Seattle to maintain its scoring rate will be to keep up its exceptional red-zone efficiency. The Seahawks continued that trend Sunday, scoring touchdowns on all four of their trips inside the red zone. Seattle has touchdowns on 22 of its 25 red-zone trips this season, which is good for a league-best 88% red-zone touchdown rate that’s nearly nine percentage points better than any other team. The Seahawks also have scored touchdowns on 29 of 39 trips inside their opponents’ 40-yard line.
DEFENSE COMPILES BEST PERFORMANCE OF SEASON
All season long, the biggest question surrounding the Seahawks has been whether their much-maligned defense can play well enough for them to reach their Super Bowl aspirations.
For the first six games, it was Russell Wilson and Seattle’s top-scoring offense doing the heavy lifting, while the defense was giving up yardage at a historically bad rate. But on Sunday, the defense held up its end of the bargain and came through with its best performance by far.
The Seahawks held San Francisco to just seven points and 112 total yards through the first three quarters, allowing just 2.8 yards per play over that span. Spurred by a blitz-heavy attack, Seattle sacked Jimmy Garoppolo three times and limited him to 11-of-16 passing for just 84 yards, no touchdowns and an interception.
It was a stark contrast from the 479.2 total yards per game and 368.7 passing yards per game that the Seahawks’ defense had allowed prior to Sunday, both of which were NFL records through the first six games of a season.
The 49ers made things somewhat interesting in the fourth quarter. After Seattle built a commanding 30-7 lead and Garoppolo left with an injury, backup Nick Mullens came in and threw for 238 yards while spearheading three fourth-quarter touchdown drives.
But once again — as has been the case so often this season — that late-game offensive production came with the Seahawks playing a prevent defense that’s designed to guard against big plays and force opponents to gain yardage underneath while chewing up the clock. Closing out games is certainly an area Seattle needs to improve on. However, it shouldn’t overshadow how well the Seahawks played defensively for the first three quarters.
And while it’s true that San Francisco’s offense has been decimated by injuries, that shouldn’t diminish Seattle’s defensive performance either. For one, the 49ers still managed to score a combined 59 points the previous two weeks in wins over the Rams and Patriots. Also, the Seahawks’ defense had its share of injuries too. Seattle played Sunday’s game without a handful of regulars, including star safety Jamal Adams, cornerback Shaquill Griffin, defensive end Benson Mayowa and nickel corner Ugo Amadi.
Yes, this was only one game. It could just be a blip on the radar. But this was a definite step in the right direction for Seattle’s defense.
Also, keep in mind that the Seahawks should be getting some major reinforcements for this Sunday’s game at Buffalo, with Adams expected to make his long-awaited return from injury and recently acquired defensive end Carlos Dunlap expected to make his Seahawks debut.
After a woeful start to the season, Seattle’s defense showed potential against the 49ers. And with some key pieces coming back into the fold, there’s optimism that this unit is capable of rising to the occasion and complementing the offense for a Super Bowl run.
SHOULD THE DEFENSE BLITZ AS OFTEN AS IT DID SUNDAY?
One of the biggest keys to the Seahawks’ defensive success Sunday was their ability to create pressure.
Just like last year, Seattle’s pass rush has struggled mightily this season. That was particularly evident in the loss to Arizona, with the Seahawks failing to register a single sack or quarterback hit on Kyler Murray.
But it was a much different story Sunday.
Seattle blitzed with an extra defender on 54.5% of San Francisco’s passing plays, according to Pro Football Reference. That was more than twice the Seahawks’ blitz rate of 26.7% entering the game. And the strategy was quite effective, with Seattle posting three sacks and eight quarterback hits. All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner excelled in particular, accounting for two sacks, four quarterback hits and three tackles for loss.
So, that begs the question: Should the Seahawks replicate Sunday’s blitz-heavy game plan on a more regular basis?
The answer is probably more muddled than it seems.
Seattle actually brought pressure quite often in its first three games, blitzing on 37.5% of its opponents’ passing plays. And too often, that left the Seahawks’ secondary exposed for long completions. Seattle got burned for seven 30-plus-yard completions over the first three games and gave up at least 6.5 yards per play in each of those contests.
As the injuries mounted on defense, Seattle went to a more conservative approach. The Seahawks blitzed at just a 10.9% rate against Miami and a 26.2% rate against Minnesota. And in those two games, they played a little bit better defensively. They allowed 6.1 yards per play against Miami. They allowed 5.4 yards per play against Minnesota. And they didn’t give up a single 30-plus-yard gain against either team.
So, the first five games would seem to suggest Seattle shouldn’t blitz heavily. But the last two games, of course, paint a much different picture.
The Seahawks blitzed just three times against Arizona, and the dual-threat Murray carved up Seattle’s defense for 37 points and an average of 6.4 yards per play. The Seahawks then unleashed a blitzing onslaught against the 49ers, and the result was their best defensive performance of the year. The last two games would seem to suggest Seattle should blitz as much as possible.
It’s important to note, however, that Garoppolo has been sacked on 28.9% of his dropbacks this season, which is tied for the highest sack rate in the league among all quarterbacks with at least 100 total dropbacks, accoding to Pro Football Focus. Also, the 49ers aren’t much of a vertical passing team. San Francisco ranks 30th in the league with just 6.6 intended air yards per pass attempt, according to Pro Football Reference. Even with an injury-depleted secondary, the Seahawks felt comfortable enough that they could bring pressure without getting burned by the 49ers’ deep passing game.
Also, keep in mind that injuries have made this defense difficult to fully evaluate. Star safety Jamal Adams, who excels at blitzing, has missed the last four games with an injury. The Seahawks surely will blitz more often and more effectively with him back. Furthermore, the starting secondary of Adams, safety Quandre Diggs, cornerback Quinton Dunbar and cornerback Shaquill Griffin hasn’t played a full game together since the season opener. Once its full secondary is back, Seattle probably will be less concerned about the possibility of blitzes leaving the back end of its defense exposed.
So, the Seahawks’ blitzing effectiveness thus far has been mixed. Once they’re back to mostly full strength, it’s fair to think they could bring relatively frequent pressure and have success doing so. However, it’s probably unrealistic to expect them to fully replicate Sunday’s blitzing frequency and success on a regular basis.
BACKUPS STEP UP, PLAY KEY ROLES
With more than a handful of key players out because of injuries, several backups stepped up with notable contributions.
Fullback Nick Bellore, filling in at tailback for a depleted backfield, had a key reception late in the first quarter that helped spark Seattle’s offense. After punting on each of their first two possessions, the Seahawks were facing third-and-8 from deep in their own territory. Bellore slid out of the backfield and caught an underneath pass, then bulldozed his way through two defenders for a first down. That extended the drive, and Seattle scored its first touchdown just four plays later.
Bellore also recovered the fumble that Cody Barton forced on a kickoff midway through the third quarter. That was part of a key sequence that saw the Seahawks score two touchdowns in less than three minutes to stretch a six-point halftime lead to 27-7.
D.J. Reed, who was waived by San Francisco in August, also made a significant contribution in his first game since being activated from Seattle’s non-football injury list. Filling in for nickel cornerback Ugo Amadi, Reed came up with a key red-zone interception in the first quarter to keep San Francisco off the board.
Stephen Sullivan, a rookie tight end and seventh-round draft pick out of LSU, recently began working as a defensive end to provide the Seahawks with more depth in that area. And on his first-ever NFL snap Sunday, Sullivan teamed with Damontre Moore for a third-down tackle for loss.
Rookie DeeJay Dallas also had a nice performance as Seattle’s primary running back Sunday, with Chris Carson and Carlos Hyde both out with injuries. Dallas rushed for 41 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, and added five caches for 17 yards and a score.
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