Seattle (1-1) defeated NFC West foe San Francisco 12-9 Sunday thanks to QB Russell Wilson’s 22nd fourth-quarter comeback and no thanks to the best offensive player at CenturyLink Field, 49ers RB Carlos Hyde, who gained 124 yards on 15 carries and twice set up field goals with long runs.
In the second quarter, Hyde got loose on a 61-yard run that set up Robbie Gould’s 40-yard field goal, cutting Seattle’s lead to 6-3. Just before halftime, Hyde popped a 27-yard run over left tackle that, coupled with a 15-yard facemask on Cliff Avril, greased a 37-yard field goal by Gould, whose kick tied the score 6-6.
“With those runs that I broke, I got to get to the end zone,” said Hyde. “I put it all on my shoulders. I got to get to the end zone there. I can change the game with a touchdown. Next time I break a run like those, I can’t get tackled. (The two runs) felt good, but it wasn’t enough, so it really doesn’t matter.”
“We made two mistakes in the run game (Hyde’s plays),” said Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. “The guy ran for 60 yards or something on the one carry, and we just made a horrendous error on the play. And then he’s good and fast and he maxed the play out.”
In the Pete Carroll era, only six running backs have a 100-yard rushing game at the Clink, headed by Adrian Peterson’s 182 yards and two TDs for Minnesota in 2012. Of the six – also Jamaal Charles, Mike James, DeMarco Murray and Roy Helu – Hyde is the only one to accomplish the feat twice.
Last September, Hyde ran for 103 yards and scored twice in 37-18 loss to Seattle at CenturyLink.
Hyde’s 124 yards Sunday make him unique in Clink history. He is the only opposing running back with 100-yard rushing games in the facility in consecutive seasons. Hyde is also the first visiting player with 100-yard rushing games in Seattle in back-to-back years since Kansas City’s Priest Holmes had 117 yards at Husky Stadium in 2002 and 197 and two TDs at the Clink (then known as Seahawks Stadium) in 2002.
Hyde accounted for the majority of San Francisco’s 159 rushing yards. Sunday marked the 17th time in the Carroll era that an opposing team amassed 150 or more yards rushing. The Seahawks lost 11 of the 17, with the following as the only wins:
Year | Date | Opponent | Yards | Sea W | Opponent leading rusher |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | Nov. 4 | Vikings | 243 | 30-20 | Adrian Peterson, 182 yards, 2 TDs |
2013 | Nov. 3 | Buccaneers | 205 | 27-24 | Mike James, 158 yards, 0 TDs |
2013 | Oct. 28 | Rams | 200 | 14-9 | Zac Stacy, 134 yards, 0 TDs |
2016 | Nov. 7 | Bills | 162 | 31-25 | LeSean McCoy, 85 yards, 0 TDs |
2017 | Sept. 17 | 49ers | 159 | 12-9 | Carlos Hyde, 124 yards, 0 TDs |
2013 | Sept. 29 | Texans | 151 | 23-20 | Arian Foster, 102 yards, 0 TDs |
Seattle, fortunate to be 1-1, would have lost Sunday had not Wilson orchestrated the game-winning drive midway through the fourth quarter. Wilson’s TD pass to Paul Richardson kept the Seahawks from losing consecutive games without a touchdown for the first time since 2001, when they tallied a combined 12 points, all on field goals, against Cleveland and Philadelphia, and for only the fourth time ever.
“When we needed it, he was making plays and the touchdown drive was phenomenal,” Carroll said of Wilson. “That’s what you love about him. That’s who he is. He was right in his element.”
The 1992 team that went 2-14 failed to score a TD in six games, including three in a row from Oct. 4-18, and tallied only 140 points all season, an 8.8 average.
Before Wilson’s pass to Richardson, the Seahawks had gone 20 consecutive drives, at Green Bay and vs. San Francisco, sans a touchdown. That’s not the worst such streak of the Carroll era, but it’s the worst since Wilson started at quarterback. Most consecutive drives without scoring a TD since Carroll has been the head coach (2010):
Year | Span | Opponents | Drives | Streak Buster |
---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | Oct. 24-Nov. 7 | AZ-Oak-NYG | 30 | Obamanu 36 pass from Whitehurst |
2011 | Oct. 9-30 | NYG-Cle-Cin | 21 | Marshawn Lynch 2-yard run |
2017 | Sept. 10-17 | GB-San Fran | 20 | Richardson 9 pass from Wilson |
2011 | Sept. 11-25 | SF-Pitt-AZ | 18 | Tarvaris Jackson 11-yard run |
2010 | Oct. 3-17 | StL-Chi | 15 | Butler 22 pass from Hasselbeck |
2016 | Nov. 20-Dec. 4 | Phil-TB-Car | 15 | Thomas Rawls 8-yard run |
Through two games, the Seahawks have 537 offensive yards (NFL rank is 26th), including 225 at Green Bay and 312 vs. San Francisco. The Seahawks have run 127 plays. The only other year in franchise history in which the Seahawks had fewer total yards and more offensive plays after two games was 1982, when Seattle had 483 yards on 133 plays in an 0-2 start.
6 Comments
The Seahawks are pathetic. I can’t think of any other single word that describes their play – on both sides of the ball. With the talent on the D side it seems like it might be an easy fix. With the lumbering giants on the o-line I see no easy fix. Either the o-line or the coaching staff (Tom Cable et al) is inept. Maybe both!I keep hearing what a genius Cable is. I’m not buying it any longer.
So Cable became dumb after two SB appearances? Look around the league and see how many bad OLs there are. College kids in spread offenses have to learn the pro style on the job.
Hasselbeck wasn’t on the team in 2015.
He was in 2010. Fixed wrong year. Thanks.
“Seattle, fortunate to be 1-1, would have lost Sunday had not Wilson
orchestrated the game-winning drive midway through the fourth quarter.”
Great. Now get rid of Bevell, the proven anti-Seahawk.
Every year it seems that while the defense is mostly stout from start to end, the offense always starts slow. 2015, the offense started slow and ended up on fire in time for the playoffs. So, I’m not worried right now. Bevell and Cable are good coaches, and remember, they are doing what Pete wants, not what the 12’s want. GO HAWKS!!!