SEATTLE – The Seattle Seahawks opened their season with a brutal 17-13 loss to the NFC West rival San Francisco 49ers.
Recap | Instant reaction | What we learned | Box score
What stood out from the defeat? Here are some observations.
Ugly debut for new-look offense
It was not a great start for Seattle’s revamped offense under new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. The Seahawks finished with just 13 points and 227 total yards. The run game was ineffective for most of the afternoon, finishing with only 84 yards on 26 carries – including just a combined 67 yards on 22 carries from running backs Zach Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker III.
There wasn’t much going in the passing game, either, with Sam Darnold throwing for just 150 yards in his Seahawks debut. Jaxon Smith-Njigba built on last year’s breakout campaign with a nine-catch, 124-yard performance, but there was little else in the passing game, with the rest of Seattle’s offense totaling just a combined seven catches for 26 yards.
‘Not the start that we wanted’ for Seahawks’ offense
Late turnovers prove costly
For most of the afternoon, Seattle’s offense avoided the big mistake. But two costly turnovers in the fourth quarter ultimately proved costly. On the opening snap of the fourth quarter, the Seahawks had the ball inside San Francisco territory with Jaxon Smith-Njigba lost a fumble on a short completion. And then in the game’s closing moments, just when it seemed like Darnold was on the precipice of channeling his late-game magic from 2024, 49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa pushed right tackle Abraham Lucas into Darnold’s arm, which resulted in a game-sealing lost fumble.
NICK BOSA CALLS GAME
SFvsSEA on FOXhttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/7cck4psHjo
— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2025
More up-and-down play from Woolen
The first few seasons of cornerback Riq Woolen’s NFL career have been marked by inconsistencies, with some flashes of tantalizing potential overshadowed at times by head-scratching mistakes. And that was the case again on Sunday. With just under 10 minutes to play, Woolen showed incredible range to make a second-down pass breakup at the pylon that helped hold the 49ers to a field goal. But later on, Woolen misplayed two passes on San Francisco’s go-ahead touchdown drive, surrendering a 45-yard completion to Ricky Pearsall and then getting giving up a 4-yard TD pass to third-string tight end Jake Tonges on a third-down play that proved to be the deciding score.
Jake Tonges had never caught a pass in the NFL before today.
He has three today. Including this one 🙌 pic.twitter.com/g1xMS2UXub
— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2025
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