Photo Credit: Seattle Seahawks

It took seven and a half quarters for the Seahawks (1-1) to score their first touchdown of the season, but it came at the right time as it was the go ahead score against San Francisco (0-2) on Sunday.

Paul Richardson would catch Seattle’s first offensive touchdown of the season on a well run out route eight minutes into the fourth quarter. Right guard Mark Glowinski got beat prior to Wilson throwing the ball and it would  force Seattle’s quarterback out of the pocket as he tried to buy time; fortunately Richardson quickly got open in the end zone. Kicker Blair Walsh would miss the point after, leaving Seattle with a 12-9 lead.

The Niners would go three and out to give Seattle’s offense the ball back with 4:47 left in the game. Running back Chris Carson would pick up a couple of big runs to pick up some first downs heading into the two-minute warning while leaving San Francisco with no timeouts. Seattle ran out the clock in victory formation to pick up the team’s first win of season.

Robbie Gould would hit a 34-yard field goal to give the 49ers their first lead of the game early in the fourth quarter. The field goal capped off a 10-play drive that saw the Niners rip off a couple of big runs — including a 13-yarder by Matt Brieda — to get them down the field. It was pretty obvious that Seattle’s defense was gassed at this point, but they managed to hit Hoyer a couple of times to force some bad passes and the field goal.

The rest of the third quarter was rather dull as both teams swapped punts and field position; and it was all knotted up at six a piece heading into the fourth quarter.

The Seahawks effectively moved their own ball down field into San Francisco territory on its first possession of the second half, but a blatant hold by the offensive line would force Seattle into a first and 20 situation. Wilson would and tailback CJ Prosise would pick up nine yards to get Seattle to second and manageable…then it would become second and six after the Niners tried to jump the snap. But a overthrown ball, and a dropped pass by Tanner McEvoy, would lead to Seattle’s fifth punt in its first seven drives.

On the 49ers first drive to start off the second half, the Niners wouldn’t move against Seattle’s defense. Hoyer would get hammered on a dead play because a timeout came in from San Francisco’s bench right before the snap. San Francisco’s punt would pen Seattle inside of their 10-yard line, thanks to a holding penalty during the kick.

Hyde had been contained for the majority of the first half until he broke off a 61-yard run late in the second quarter to get San Francisco across the 50-yard line for the first time in the game. He bounced outside of his tackle to get around the congested middle of the line where he found a bunch of green along the sideline until Jeremy Lane chased him down from behind. Bennett would put an end to the Niners offensive threat two plays later when he sacked Hoyer for a four-yard loss on third down to set-up a Robbie Gould 40-yard field goal to get San Francisco within a field goal.

The fourth year tailback would rip off a 47-yard run with less than a minute left in the half to get San Francisco back into field goal range. Hoyer would struggle in the drying rain and would miss a couple of throws, which forced them to send Gould out again for the game tying 37-yard field goal.

Tyler Lockett emerged as Wilson’s most consistent target throughout the first half, when he had time in the pocket, as he caught five passes for 59 yards. He was consistently the biggest offensive threat the Seahawks had in the first half.

Bobby Wagner would force the first turnover of the game when he picked off Hoyer early on in the second quarter when he caught a tipped pass that was thrown just above the intended target. As he was running back the interception Wagner would lose the football after a hard hit but Sherman would fall on the loose ball to get it to their offense.

Seattle’s offensive woes in the red zone continued after Hoyer’s interception, as Wilson was able to guided the Seahawks to San Francisco’s nine-yard line in nine plays; but they were ineffective once they got inside the 15 because of the offensive line. The Niners were constantly in the backfield, including a four yard loss on a Rawls run and a sack. Despite the offensive line issues, the Hawks still had a shot at the end zone if Tanner McEvoy was caught by the wide receiver. Walsh would be called in to hit a 27-yard field goal, which he would nail to give Seattle a 6-0 lead.

Walsh would get to flex his leg early in challenging conditions as he hit a 25-yard field goal to cap off Seattle’s 16-play first drive. The kicker was called in after three straight pass attempts from San Francisco’s 49-yard line failed to result in a touchdown.

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