Brutal 2nd half hands Seahawks loss against 49ers
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The San Francisco 49ers sit alone atop the NFC West for now - hardly the kind of firm hold on the division they owned last October.
Alex Smith threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Delanie Walker late in the third quarter and San Francisco held off the Seattle Seahawks 13-6 on Thursday night as the 49ers won their long-awaited division opener.
Frank Gore ran for 131 yards and the 49ers (5-2) took over sole possession of first place in the NFC West by making just enough plays to win this defense-first game, featuring two teams allowing fewer than 16 points per game.
Walker's score was San Francisco's first touchdown in seven quarters after an embarrassing 26-3 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday in a lopsided rematch of the NFC championship game. The tight end broke his jaw in two places at Seattle last Dec. 24 and sat out until the title game.
Smith went 14 of 23 for 140 yards in another subpar performance. The defense hung tough down the stretch.
NFC rushing leader Marshawn Lynch finished with 103 yards for Seattle (4-3).
It's now Jim Harbaugh 3, Pete Carroll 0 since these two coaching rivals started facing off in the NFL last year after all those memorable moments in the college game.
Harbaugh's teams sure have shown they are quick to forget their losses. The 49ers improved to 5-0 after regular-season defeats since reigning NFL Coach of the Year Harbaugh took over before last season.
Pulling off this one could give the 49ers some momentum, too. It was the first of two straight prime time games for San Francisco, which doesn't play again until Oct. 29 at Arizona.
The defensive fight left the animated coaches shaking their heads and hollering on opposite sidelines all game, offering plenty of entertainment for the sellout crowd of 69,732 at balmy Candlestick Park.
These teams met in Weeks 1 and 16 last season, with the 49ers beating Seattle 33-17 at home for Harbaugh's first victory as an NFL coach.
This one was close until the end.
After Walker's touchdown, Dashon Goldson intercepted a deep pass by Russell Wilson to thwart Seattle's next drive after NaVorro Bowman clobbered the rookie quarterback as he was trying to throw.
Smith gave the ball back with an interception of his own early in the fourth quarter. His fifth interception of the season matched his total from all of 2011.
Harbaugh went to backup Colin Kaepernick for one keeper play that lost a yard, Smith returned for third-and-goal on the 7. He scrambled to his left looking for an open receiver and Brandon Browner jumped in front of a pass intended for Randy Moss.
That gave Seattle the ball back with 11:58 remaining. Yet again, the Seahawks couldn't capitalize on a night of missed opportunities and dropped balls.
Gore had his third 100-yard game of the season, not to be outdone by Lynch on the other side.
Lynch carried 19 times and bounced back from a 41-yard outing in Sunday's comeback 24-23 home win against the Patriots. The 49ers and their top-ranked defense hadn't allowed a 100-yard rusher in 22 consecutive home games before New York's Ahmad Bradshaw ran for 116 yards and a touchdown Sunday - and now the Niners made it twice in five days.
Not that they should have been too surprised. This is Lynch, after all.
The last time they faced off, on Dec. 24, Lynch ran for 107 yards as San Francisco's defense had its streak of not allowing a 100-yard rusher end at 36 games. And his 4-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter also was the first TD rushing allowed by San Francisco all season.
Wilson, who spoke leading up to the game that he couldn't wait for his introduction to this heated rivalry, went 9 of 23 for 122 yards, an interception and two sacks. Aldon Smith sacked him with 1:25 left, then Paul McQuistan was called for a chop block on Smith in the end zone with 43 seconds left. It would have been an automatic safety, but the 49ers declined the penalty. The play was reviewed and Seattle was short of the first down.
Wilson struggled four days after he threw two late touchdown passes as the Seahawks rallied for 14 points over the final 7:31 to stun New England on Sunday.
He had several deep balls in the first half that were right on target but the receivers couldn't come down with the football.
Another key miss helped seal it for San Francisco.
On Seattle's second-to-last drive, Patrick Willis tipped a pass by Wilson on third-and-12 just before the 2-minute warning.
San Francisco was in control of the division at this stage last season - sitting at 5-1 - but needed a big second half Thursday after a quick week of preparation to stay in first place.
Steven Hauschka kicked a 52-yard field goal as Seattle scored first for the seventh time in as many games this year. He added a 35-yarder early in the second quarter but missed wide left on a 51-yard try later in the quarter.
David Akers, who had eight of his NFL-record 44 field goals in the two games against the Seahawks last season, booted a 38-yarder late in the first quarter to make it 3-3.
Alex Smith threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Delanie Walker late in the third quarter and San Francisco held off the Seattle Seahawks 13-6 on Thursday night as the 49ers won their long-awaited division opener.
Frank Gore ran for 131 yards and the 49ers (5-2) took over sole possession of first place in the NFC West by making just enough plays to win this defense-first game, featuring two teams allowing fewer than 16 points per game.
Walker's score was San Francisco's first touchdown in seven quarters after an embarrassing 26-3 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday in a lopsided rematch of the NFC championship game. The tight end broke his jaw in two places at Seattle last Dec. 24 and sat out until the title game.
Smith went 14 of 23 for 140 yards in another subpar performance. The defense hung tough down the stretch.
NFC rushing leader Marshawn Lynch finished with 103 yards for Seattle (4-3).
It's now Jim Harbaugh 3, Pete Carroll 0 since these two coaching rivals started facing off in the NFL last year after all those memorable moments in the college game.
Harbaugh's teams sure have shown they are quick to forget their losses. The 49ers improved to 5-0 after regular-season defeats since reigning NFL Coach of the Year Harbaugh took over before last season.
Pulling off this one could give the 49ers some momentum, too. It was the first of two straight prime time games for San Francisco, which doesn't play again until Oct. 29 at Arizona.
The defensive fight left the animated coaches shaking their heads and hollering on opposite sidelines all game, offering plenty of entertainment for the sellout crowd of 69,732 at balmy Candlestick Park.
These teams met in Weeks 1 and 16 last season, with the 49ers beating Seattle 33-17 at home for Harbaugh's first victory as an NFL coach.
This one was close until the end.
After Walker's touchdown, Dashon Goldson intercepted a deep pass by Russell Wilson to thwart Seattle's next drive after NaVorro Bowman clobbered the rookie quarterback as he was trying to throw.
Smith gave the ball back with an interception of his own early in the fourth quarter. His fifth interception of the season matched his total from all of 2011.
Harbaugh went to backup Colin Kaepernick for one keeper play that lost a yard, Smith returned for third-and-goal on the 7. He scrambled to his left looking for an open receiver and Brandon Browner jumped in front of a pass intended for Randy Moss.
That gave Seattle the ball back with 11:58 remaining. Yet again, the Seahawks couldn't capitalize on a night of missed opportunities and dropped balls.
Gore had his third 100-yard game of the season, not to be outdone by Lynch on the other side.
Lynch carried 19 times and bounced back from a 41-yard outing in Sunday's comeback 24-23 home win against the Patriots. The 49ers and their top-ranked defense hadn't allowed a 100-yard rusher in 22 consecutive home games before New York's Ahmad Bradshaw ran for 116 yards and a touchdown Sunday - and now the Niners made it twice in five days.
Not that they should have been too surprised. This is Lynch, after all.
The last time they faced off, on Dec. 24, Lynch ran for 107 yards as San Francisco's defense had its streak of not allowing a 100-yard rusher end at 36 games. And his 4-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter also was the first TD rushing allowed by San Francisco all season.
Wilson, who spoke leading up to the game that he couldn't wait for his introduction to this heated rivalry, went 9 of 23 for 122 yards, an interception and two sacks. Aldon Smith sacked him with 1:25 left, then Paul McQuistan was called for a chop block on Smith in the end zone with 43 seconds left. It would have been an automatic safety, but the 49ers declined the penalty. The play was reviewed and Seattle was short of the first down.
Wilson struggled four days after he threw two late touchdown passes as the Seahawks rallied for 14 points over the final 7:31 to stun New England on Sunday.
He had several deep balls in the first half that were right on target but the receivers couldn't come down with the football.
Another key miss helped seal it for San Francisco.
On Seattle's second-to-last drive, Patrick Willis tipped a pass by Wilson on third-and-12 just before the 2-minute warning.
San Francisco was in control of the division at this stage last season - sitting at 5-1 - but needed a big second half Thursday after a quick week of preparation to stay in first place.
Steven Hauschka kicked a 52-yard field goal as Seattle scored first for the seventh time in as many games this year. He added a 35-yarder early in the second quarter but missed wide left on a 51-yard try later in the quarter.
David Akers, who had eight of his NFL-record 44 field goals in the two games against the Seahawks last season, booted a 38-yarder late in the first quarter to make it 3-3.
Niners could have run the ball all day on the Hawks defense.
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 @caphillkid What happened to ya' cap?Â
 @caphillkid Kind of like your team got their ass HANDED to them by the Giants. You will not win a playoff game with a mediocre offense, which is all you have. MVDGaydad and you are going to cry for a week. LOL!!
Finally someone not commenting on the Hawks offense. The Giants defense held San Fran to 3 points at home. We on the other hand allowed 13 points. Improvement will need to be seen on both sides of the ball when we face them again. Until then Go Seahawks!
8-8. Seattle thrives on mediocrity. Great teams and great players make those kind of plays on offense. Unfortunately we dont have any great players. Maybe next year? Dont hold your breath.
me·di·oc·ri·ty (md-kr-t) n. pl. me·di·oc·ri·ties
1. The state or quality of being mediocre.
2. Mediocre ability, achievement, or performance.
3. One that displays mediocre qualities.
4. Teams from the city of Seattle.
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 @Willy Lee trollololol
Well we left too many plays on the field...You cannot toss this one on Russell..>He put the ball where is could be caught..and they didn't. 5 drops in the first 6 games and then at LEAST 5 last night, including 2 that should have gone the distance....
Year after year the same ugly problem shows up game after game, catch the dam ball.....
More offensive problems due to receivers who don't catch balls and a rookie QB.
Ok so we're 0-3 in the division. The next 3 division games are in our house!
 @2009Ultra I'm also noticing a good trend. Lose a game, win two, lose a game, win two. lose a game, win two? Will find out!
Last week I gave Wilson his props and all of the Wilson apologists were out in force saying that NE game should shut up the Wilson critics. As this critic said last week, it will take more than one game to change my mind that Wilson isn't the man.   This game was the return of the real Wilson.
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I love how the Wilosn apologists are blaming his receivers dropped passes for his inept offensive performance. There were only two legitimate dropped passes: 1) Turbin and 2) Golden Tate for a 1st down. And before I hear that Turbin would have scored if he caught that pass,  no he would not have scored. Look at the replay, the safety came over the top and would have pushed him out of bounds. I couldn't believe the announcer was saying that. The rest of his so-called "dropped passes" were to well covered receivers. Others were thrown high and behind receivers not giving them a real chance. He threw an interception deep to a tripled covered receiver when Rice was wide open over the middle. Was it because he couldn't see Rice over the height of his line? Perhaps.
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I will give him one bit of praise, he is doing a better job stepping up into the pocket than bailing out prematurely.
 @UWGrad_96 actually there is one more that should have been caught and was a PERFECT pass, that was to Moore the TE going down the sideline...he was covered but the ball was PERFECTLY thrown and simply dropped....DB never even put a hand on it.
Your correct. I forgot about that one. Probably because that was the first time I heard of Moore.
Wow a loss to a better team and everyone is jumping off the bandwagon and throwing players under the bus.
This seems to be a what have you done for me lately crowd.
 @mstipton Seriously.  SF has a top 5 offense and defense this year.  Getting the L in SF was a DUH moment for the rest of the NFL.
To those who say that Wilson is too short - maybe Wilson should start wearing customized platform shoes? ;-)
I love how the bandwagoners come out the minute the Hawks win a big game against the Pats or Green Bay but then everyone starts whining when the Hawks lose a game on the road. This is a very young talented team. You are going to have games like this. It's part of the growing process. 13-6 loss? It isn't pretty but the Hawk's defense is going to allow them to stay in many games. You won't see the Hawks get blown out too often. We still have a long way to go. No reason to hit the panic button over a loss to a really good team. Some of you don't know a lot about football and it shows.Â
 @FremontTroll Agreed. Every game we have lost we have had a chance...there are no blow outs for this team. Wilson is a Rook after all and his WR's did him no favors today.....
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the D killed me though in the second half...that was the GORE show...the LB's were not covering like they should have....
 @Dawgfan67  @FremontTroll Except us blowing out the Cowboys. The so called "America's team"
This game sucked the whole way. Â Those dropped passes WERE significant and not Wilson's fault. Â I can't believe these fools that blame Wilson for the people dropping the passes. Â Unbelievable. Â Predictable and boring compared to last Sunday. Â PU!!!
 @pbandjane I can't believe all the fools who are ignoring how pathetic Wilson looked in the second half. There were only 2 drops that really cost them (Tates and Turbins). I believe before the last completion that came up a yard short, he had completed one pass for -1 yard in the second half. Wilson would be a solid backup, it's time to give Flynn a shot.
 @JK15  @pbandjane You obviously forgot the long sideline pass to the TE Moore which was perfect pass and was dropped.... Or the drop by Lynch in the 4th quarter that would have kept the drive alive...
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You also seem to misread that the Oline in the second half STUNK up the field. Giancomini was PATHETIC!
Wow, and people get upset when it's pointed out that the Seattle fan base for their teams is weak at best.
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I'm reading these messages here and left scratching my head. The Seahawks played the Patriots in a game that went down to the last play, won by one point and then FOUR DAYS LATER had to play San Francisco on the road. They lose 13 to 6 and its the end of the world???
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Really???
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Sorry - but I'll take it, and given the short turn around and a road game, I think the Seahawks can hold their heads up. Would a W be better? Of course! Is it really THAT bad. Sweet buttery Jesus look at the big picture.
 @Howard Beale The big picture? we are 0-3 in the division and on pace for another 8-8 season with no playoffs.  Haven't you seen this before or have you moved here recently?Â
 @Willy Lee  @Howard Beale I say we are on pace for 9-7 season at worst.  The team is through the toughest part of their schedule.  @AZ, DAL, GB, NE, and @ SF and they managed to get out of that 4-3.  The bigger losses are vs AZ and STL. Â
 @Howard Beale THANK you Howard! I'm so sick of Seattle's "fair weather fans." Teams like the Giants, and *shudder* Pittsburgh...have fans that back them win OR lose. A lot of fans out here are pathetic. It was a good game, against a good team, and the Hawks only lost by 7. Not bad. Looking forward to the playoffs! Go Hawks!
 @Wolfen  @Howard Beale A short week road game is a weak excuse. The 49ers were also playing on a short week, and it takes less time to fly to SF than it takes to drive to Portland. This loss is bigger than just 1 game. Sitting at 0-3 in the division is a disaster.....And talking about teams like the Giants and Pit having fans that back their teams is just flat wrong. The Giants fan base wanted Tom Coughlins head on a platter, and Eli benched last season.Â
Dropped Passes.... Some of those 1st half passes were beautiful!
Our offense is a joke....terrible....and this is why we are going no where fast. Everyone has been knocking for weeks on here as I keep preaching for Flynn....and tonight was a perfect example of why...another year wasted....0-3 in the division= another season lost. And our QB apparently thinks throwing into triple coverage is a good opportunity for a catch....he had a nice little run but he CANT play and succeed longterm.
 @amd_44 Remind me how much tape you watch?
You are right on. Our offense is a gadget one. Rolling out to give Wilson a better view down the field will last so long until defensive coaches catch on. The offense was built on protecting the QB in the pocket. If the QB is too short to stand tall in the pocket, then we need to find a taller QB like, pronto. Receivers need a taller QB so they can see his wind up and arm moving as he fires toward them. They probably find it hard to anticipate the ball being flung their way over the heads of the defenders. They all run down the field telling each other whoever is closest to the ball should try to catch it when they see it come from whatever side of the field it happens to be flung from. The time they see it coming their way is about 5 feet after it leaves wilson's hands and makes it over the defenders.
If the receivers could see the quarterback and see his eye sighting them and or his head facing them it may give them more time to know he is going to throw their way. That is why Flynn should be playing-the taller the better for the receivers too!
 @wizard I was unaware that Pro linemen are bigger than college linemen. Seems he did pretty good in the Big Ten.
Great news. Another loss for the overpaid, overhyperd professional jocks. And what is even better, all the wanna be jocks on here will be crying in their beer for the next 2 weeks.
 @EMDF9A So you would rather overhyped jocks from another city win the game? If you hate all sports, why do you even comment on local teams? Just to troll?
I don't understand why there is no urgency in this team late in the game???  They need to learn how to move the ball and reserve the time on the clock in the later part of these close games. Oh yeah......... they need to learn how to CATCH THE BALL when it hits them in the chest and hands also. Jerkoffamene needs to quit with all the stupid fouls, he's killed us all season long ! We'll be out of it within 4 weeks anyway and we won't have to worry about making the post Season anyway. Every year its the same thing. I think Seattle has a bigger curse than the curse of the Bambino on the Red Socks.Â
If we can't put it in the end zone what do you expect. Â This isn't soccer its hard next to impossible to win the game by only kicking the ball through the goal.
Maybe the receivers have a conspiracy to drop passes from Wilson because they want their buddy Flynn to play. I bet if Flynn gets a shot, they will suddenly start catching everything thrown to them.
 @wizard LOL wizard you can't be serious.  Besides up until last night we were tied for fewest dropped passes.
C H O K E !!!!!!!!  Â
Tough, tough game. But in the end, here's what we know: the best QB wore red, the best RB wore red, and the best defense wore red. And the Seahawks still can't win a game that matters on the road.
 @MVDad Tough, tough game this last Sunday. But in the end, here's what we know: the best QB wore blue, the best RB wore blue, and the best defense (by far) wore BLUE. And the gay9ers still can't win a game that matters on the road.
 @MVDad You hit the nail right on the head !Â
 @theworldsamess  @MVDad Should watch who you agree with. Makes you look like a BUFFOON!!
 @theworldsamess  @MVDad I disagree about the running back. The 49ers offensive line overpowered the hawks D. Kendall Hunter would have racked up 150 behind that line if Gore didn't play.