The San Francisco 49ers cruised to victory over a hapless Seattle Seahawks team at home. They looked to be on cruise control for much of the first half before they blew the game open in the 3rd quarter. Quarterback Brock Purdy passed for a career-high 368 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a 54-yard bomb to Deebo Samuel in the second quarter and a 44-yard throw to George Kittle to ice the game in the fourth quarter. He did throw an interception in the second quarter because Brandon Aiyuk ran the wrong route.
Aiyuk pulled in 6 catches for 126 yards but fumbled at the tail end of a big play in the fourth quarter as well. Samuel decided to turn the clock back to 2021, totaling 150 yards and 2 touchdowns on 8 touches, and George Kittle reeled in 3 catches for 76 yards with a touchdown. Christian McCaffrey strolled in with his license to kill and something all Seahawk defenders will see in their nightmares are the words “McCaffrey, Christian McCaffrey”. He totaled 153 yards on 17 touches.
The 49ers can win in a lot of ways, but the games where they win in every which way at the same time? They are unstoppable. What do I mean by this? Seattle couldn’t stop the run all day. McCaffrey ran away on a 72-yard run on the first play from scrimmage. They couldn’t stop the pass either. Purdy took advantage of Seattle’s Cover 3 zone defense all day with tons of explosive throws down the field. The issue with defending the 49ers is that if you sell out to stop one aspect of their offense, they are more than capable of beating you using another method. Jimmy Garopollo is NOT the quarterback of this team anymore. Selling out and stopping the run doesn’t guarantee wins anymore.
PURDY. DEEBO. 🎯
📺: #SEAvsSF on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/pWMED8SAQa pic.twitter.com/5KdVtUvjzZ— NFL (@NFL) December 10, 2023
49ers Look Unstoppable in Victory over Seahawks
Depleted 49ers Defense Stands Tall
San Francisco came into the game without standout defensive tackle Arik Armstead. They lost star defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, acquired from the Philadelphia Eagles via free agency in the off-season, and number one cornerback Charvarius Ward on Sunday. Ward shadowed Seattle wide receiver D.K. Metcalf during their Thanksgiving match-up and helped him to just 3 catches for 32 yards on 9 targets. After the 49ers lost Ward, Drew Lock immediately looked in the direction of Ambry Thomas, who was then stuck guarding Metcalf. Thomas gave up a long touchdown, but then had Metcalf in Azkaban for most of the day after that.
Lock looked pretty good for being forced into the starting lineup basically on Sunday morning after Smith decided he couldn’t play after his pre-game workout. However, as the game went on, Seattle’s playcalling got more and more suspect and Lock looked worse and worse. Even though running back Zach Charbonnet was averaging 4.9 yards per attempt and San Francisco couldn’t stop receiver Tyler Lockett (6 catches for 89 yards), Seattle’s offensive coordinator Shane Waldron called too many passes not in Lockett’s direction and went away from Charbonnet late. Waldron, for some reason, also went away from deep pass attempts in Metcalf’s direction after his 31-yard touchdown catch, which makes zero sense.
The Pete Carroll Conundrum
Seattle head coach Pete Caroll is in doubt a legendary NFL coach. He has orchestrated one of the best defensive teams in the history of the NFL, with the Legion of Boom Seahawks. However, it might be time for a graceful exit. He is still a great coach, but he just cannot seem to hire good coordinators, and for a coach who doesn’t call plays, that just can’t happen. 49ers’ head coach Kyle Shanahan has coached circles around him and the rest of Seattle’s staff in 5 straight match-ups now.
But at the end of the day, everything comes back to the fact that he just cannot hire good coordinators. If you are a coach who doesn’t call plays, making Shane Waldron and Clint Hurtt your coordinators isn’t going to end well. Both of these units lack energy and creativity. Seattle’s offense rarely uses motion and their defense never hides or masks its coverages. And when you play a quarterback like Brock Purdy and a middle linebacker like Fred Warner, that kind of ancient structure is just not going to go well.
Also, Carroll had multiple opportunities to go for it on 4th and shorts throughout the game. The Seahawks were 6-6, playing a team not in the same weight class, and needed a miracle to make the playoffs anyway and play a 10-3 Philadelphia Eagles next week. What did they have to lose? Why wouldn’t Carroll roll the dice and go for those 4th and shorts? Instead, Seattle ended up having to go for it on a 4th and 13 out of necessity. This, of course, failed and the ball ended up in the hands of Warner. The Seahawks wouldn’t touch the ball again. D.K. Metcalf’s repeated dirty plays almost every week also speak directly to the coaching.
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. But this old dog doesn’t want to learn new tricks. He has picked up the training clicker and tossed it out the window. Maybe it’s time for the dog to be out the window as well. It’s time for the Seattle Seahawks to move on from Pete Carroll.
My Prediction On Friday
I predicted a 38-17 49ers victory on Friday, and they ended up winning 28-16. So I’d say that I didn’t do too shabby. The fact of the matter is that even without Armstead, Ward, and Hargrave, the 49ers are just flat-out better. No, Geno Smith wouldn’t have changed the outcome of this game based on his past few outings against the 49ers. But there is no shame in losing to the buzzsaw that is the 49ers right now. None. San Francisco was still clearly feeling the effects of their emotional victory in Philadelphia the week before and was dominant against the Seahawks. The 49ers are very clearly the best team in the league and nobody is supposed to be this good in the salary cap era.
Main Photo Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
