Seattle D: Good to awful

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, December 14, 2006

SEATTLE – Through three quarters, the Seattle Seahawks’ defense held its own against the San Francisco 49ers, which should have been enough time for the struggling Seattle offense to get untracked.

Alas, the Seahawks’ offense never did get untracked Thursday night. And in the fourth quarter, Seattle’s defense went from good to gosh-awful, all in the space of the game’s final 15 minutes, sending the Seahawks to a staggering 24-14 loss on a rainy night at Qwest Field.

Seattle gave up 196 yards to San Francisco in the fourth quarter, or more yards than they had given up in the first three quarters. The 49ers also managed 11 first downs and, most importantly, touchdowns on three consecutive possessions.

It was a hapless turnabout for Seattle’s defense, and one that left players scratching their heads – not to mention searching their souls – for explanations in the postgame locker room.

“I don’t know what it was,” said Seattle defensive tackle Grant Wistrom. “We fell apart.”

Why?

Wistrom shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said.

In the first three quarters, the Seahawks played well defensively, limiting San Francisco to 194 yards, eight first downs and a sole field goal. Those three points came late in the second quarter and were set up by a fake-punt dash of 33 yards by 49ers running back Michael Robinson against Seattle’s punt-return unit.

“I thought we did a real good job (early in the game),” said Seahawks safety Ken Hamlin. “Guys were flying around and getting to the ball. But it’s a 60-minute game and we have to finish it out. We just have to finish the game.”

The turning point for Seattle actually came late in the third period. The Seahawks had a chance to force a punt from deep in the 49ers’ end, but instead allowed San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith to scramble from the pocket and find wide receiver Antonio Bryant for a first-down gain up the right sideline.

That kept alive a possession that led to San Francisco’s first touchdown early in the fourth quarter, this on an 8-yard pass from Smith to tight end Vernon Davis. Then, after Seattle lost the ball on downs at the San Francisco 27, the 49ers commenced another scoring drive.

This march produced Seattle’s most glaring miscue of the game. It came with the 49ers facing third-and-6 at the Seattle 20-yard line. With a third-down stop, the Seahawks might have held the visitors to a field goal and then, perhaps, reclaimed the lead with an ensuing touchdown.

Seattle’s coaches came up with the terrific defensive call, sending Kelly Herndon on a blitz from his left cornerback position. Herndon had an unobstructed path to Smith and laid a jarring hit on the 49ers quarterback – only to bounce off and fall to the turf, leaving Smith still standing.

Smith then rolled to his left and tossed a pass to running back Frank Gore down the left sideline for a touchdown, putting the 49ers in front 17-7 with just over four minutes to play in the game.

“I just tried to do a normal tackle on him,” said a chagrined Herndon after the game. “It just seemed like right at the last second he dipped on me and I kind of hit him with my head. I thought he was going to go down, but I couldn’t wrap him up and follow through.

“In that situation, if you get a free run at the quarterback, you’ve got to make that play,” he added. “Usually I make that play. I’m kind of shocked that I let my team down in that situation. It’s going to stick with me for a long time, especially knowing we had a chance to clinch (the division title and a playoff spot).”

San Francisco capped its scoring with an impressive final drive against what was by now a dispirited Seattle defense. Smith ran the last 18 yards on a naked bootleg scamper around left end and was so wide open – every Seahawks defender had committed to an inside handoff fake to Gore – that he held the ball triumphantly aloft as he jogged the final 15 yards to the end zone.

Though meaningless to the outcome, that last 49ers touchdown put an exclamation point on a fourth-quarter defensive collapse that was equal parts shocking and shaming.

“The sign of a good team is to admit what we did wrong,” said Seattle linebacker Lofa Tatupu. “If we didn’t let them score (in the fourth quarter), we would have won that game. Twenty-four points is unacceptable.”

“It’s so close to the playoffs and you don’t want to be playing like this,” Hamlin agreed. “We’ve lost two crucial games (beginning with Sunday’s loss at Arizona) back to back, and to divisional opponents, and that’s not how you get on a roll going into the playoffs. I don’t think there’s any confidence that’s lost. We have to get a whole new mindset and get on a roll.”