49ers cornerback Renardo Green intercepts a pass intended for Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba on Sunday at Lumen Field in Seattle. (Getty Images)
49ers cornerback Renardo Green intercepts a pass intended for Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba on Sunday at Lumen Field in Seattle. (Getty Images)
SEATTLE – Instant impressions after the Seahawks lost to the 49ers 32-29 to fall to 3-2 on the season:
Hold on to the dang ball!
There is a stat that many like to reference of how the Seahawks have never lost under Mike Macdonald when winning the turnover battle. It’s a stat that in general plays out almost all the time in the NFL. Choosing to not cherish possession of the ball can sometime be a sin that a team can’t overcome.
The Seahawks do not appear to cherish holding on to the football this season and this game was the epitome of how that seems to be the case. When the second offensive play of the game is a forced pass by Sam Darnold that is intercepted, you are showing right from the outset that ball possession and ball security is not the highest priority.
Sometimes turnovers can’t be avoided. The opponent makes a great play. But all four of the Seahawks turnovers in this game were avoidable. And that makes the sting of a loss like this to a rival even more painful.
Don’t turn the ball over and the Seahawks win this game comfortably.
Sloppy play cost the Seahawks in Week 3 in Washington. It cost them on Sunday against the 49ers. The evolution of this team as the season progresses must include greater care for the football.
A new difference maker
Josh Jobe is a really good cornerback. He’s proven since arriving in Seattle that he can match up against some of the best wide receivers in the league.
What Jobe isn’t is very big. He’s on the smaller side for a cornerback. And the 49ers used that to their advantage by putting all 6-foot-5 of Mike Evans in as many one-on-one matchups with Jobe as possible.
The result: Evans finished with seven catches for 113 yards, one touchdown and caught a 2-point conversion. At times, he looked like the big brother shaking off his younger sibling when Jobe was trying to defend him.
If Evans can stay healthy, he’s a difference maker in the pass game that San Francisco hasn’t had as an option in recent seasons. By the time the Seahawks see the 49ers again just after Thanksgiving in Santa Clara, they need to have a better plan for handling Evans because San Francisco’s offense did very little otherwise — the next highest on the receptions list was George Kittle with five catches for 24 yards.
Rivalries are fun
This very much is starting to feel like how the rivalry between the Seahawks and 49ers was in the peak of the Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll eras. There was smack talking. There was a lot of angst. There was Dre Greenlaw getting ejected for headbutting Ernest Jones IV without his helmet on. There was Evans getting into it with Trevon Diggs.
The day had a very college rivalry feel which doesn’t come along often in the NFL. If both of these teams stay on course, there could be a lot more jawing to come later in the season — first in late November and maybe against in January.
Local journalism is essential.
Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forum series -- which helps to boost local journalism -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are tax-deductible.
Meet Our Journalists
Jesse Tinsley
Jesse Tinsley
Jesse Tinsley
Meet Jesse Tinsley. As a certified drone pilot, this veteran Spokesman-Review photographer often can be seen capturing beautiful aerial photographs of our region. Sometimes though, the job requires getting down with the dogs.
Jim Meehan
Jim Meehan
Jim Meehan is no stranger to Zag Nation. As the lead writer covering the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, he tells the stories behind the game and gets fans a bit closer to their favorite players.
There is no artist in Spokane like Molly Quinn. Her whimsical style is instantly recognizable to readers of The Spokesman-Review. She has painted gorgeous illustrations that instantly elevate the journalism accompanying it. She brings to life the stories that defy photography. She makes our pages better.
Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves to talk with people and learn about their lives, whether it's a best-selling author or a stranger he meets downtown on his walk to lunch. It's that inquisitive nature combined with a playful sense of storytelling that helps make our newspaper different than most.