About two hours before kickoff Seattle’s Thomas Rawls was in the locker room getting loosened up.
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The 49ers entered with the 20th-ranked run defense, allowing an average of 111.9 yards per game. That ability is guaranteed to give Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll something to think about going forward.
With six games left on the season and Rawls now commanding more playing time, he could become just the second rookie in franchise history to rush for 1,000 yards – a feat that would’ve seemed ridiculous three months ago when he was just fighting to make the roster.
The San Francisco 49ers did not play their worst game against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday – but it certainly was not their best performance, either. This time from 11 yards out.
Rawls’ biggest play of the day, though, came on a pass in the fourth quarter.
“And we knew going in this was a hard place to win”.
I said on Twitter towards the end of the game, that Marshawn truly looks like a wise, old mentor who stuck around in his profession one year longer than he wanted to, in order to see that his position would be in good hands.
Making his second consecutive start after impressing his coaches against the Atlanta Falcons, quarterback Blaine Gabbert at least showed why he was chosen to be put behind center.
“To me, you’re not afraid to punt”, Tomsula said Sunday. “Got himself out of a few things and kept his eyes down the field and made a few plays. I’m not into moral victories, but that was encouraging”. But Gabbert’s effort wasn’t enough to defeat Seahawks, which took 13-0 lead in the first quarter.
The absence of RB Marshawn Lynch didn’t prevent the Seahawks from going beast mode on the 49ers early, as a pair of young players had their way with the 49ers defense to give Seattle an early lead. Rawls’ receiving score, he snuck out of the backfield on a play-action wheel route, caught the pass, cut on a dime and blew past ILB Michael Wilhoite for the 31-yard score.
The Seattle Seahawks have managed to win in the first contest between these two, beating out the San Francisco 49ers 20-3 at Levi’s Stadium.
Wilson completed 24 of 29 passes for 260 yards, helping Seattle to convert 8 of 14 times on third down and score on its first three drives.
Rawls picked up his second rushing touchdown of the season with a 2-yard run that capped a 59-yard drive in the first quarter. Steven Hauschka missed the extra point off the outside of the right upright, his first miss in 40 points-after-touchdown.
“Everybody was clicking”, Lockett said. The Seahawks running back finished the day with 209 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground along with three catches for 46 yards and another touchdown in the passing game.
Shead, who has also played safety and nickel back inside this season, entered after Williams appeared to have the responsible coverage behind reserve outside linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis down his sideline as tight end Garrett Celek caught a 33-yard pass. That set up a field goal for the 49ers in the third quarter.
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“We were able to stop them when they got to the red zone and that’s all you need to do”, Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman said.
