NFL Week 11 Analysis: Winners and Losers from Seahawks 20, 49ers 17

The waiting is over. The Seattle Seahawks (5-5) have clawed their way back into the playoff race after an exhilarating 20-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers (5-5). Six-game losing streak to San Francisco? Over. Geno Smith’s winless record against the 49ers? Over. Seattle’s chances of winning the NFC West and getting back into the postseason? Alive, if only barely.

If the Seahawks wasted an opportunity against the Los Angeles Rams prior to the bye week, they seized on their moment when it mattered most against the reigning NFC champions. Maybe that was the most apt way to end the drought against the 49ers.

It’s Winners and Losers time, but a happy one!

Winners

Geno Smith

More than anyone else, Smith needed this. Not just for the personal moment of finally beating the 49ers, but keep in mind what happened in the first game versus San Francisco with a chance to take the lead, the 4th quarter disaster against the Rams prior to the bye week, and his awful interception to start the 2nd half of this game. Smith has led a lot of game-winning drives as Seahawks quarterback, but this felt the most impactful. He was 7/8 for 54 yards and used his legs when it mattered most, including on the winning touchdown.

The stats are not gaudy for Geno (25/32 for 221 yards and an INT), and life got easier once Nick Bosa left, but the 49ers still have a lot of quality defensive players on there and arguably the best linebacker in the league. Smith was unflappable when it mattered most, and this may go down as his signature moment as Seahawks QB depending on how the rest of the season goes.

We’ve been used to Russell Wilson pulling off this specific type of comeback against the 49ers, and now Geno has his moment to shine. If you want to question his ability to be an elite QB? Fine. Don’t ever question his heart and determination. That was freaking tremendous.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba

He’s arrived. There is no doubt that he’s WR2 at a minimum if not in a 1a/1b situation with DK Metcalf already. He’s almost matched last year’s rookie stats in 10 games.

JSN had 10 catches for 110 yards and had four critical grabs on the final possession. He was Geno’s go-to target and he’s earned those reps based on his last two games. The 49ers have been susceptible to slot receivers all season, and it was evident in this game.

I also love that he finally got a jet sweep handoff (for a first down). Find creative ways to get him the ball!

DK Metcalf

Welcome back, DK. He had 7 catches for 70 yards and changed the game with that critical 3rd and 12 grab for 26 yards over the outstretched arms of Isaac Yiadom. Metcalf also had a nice block on JSN’s screen pass that set up Ken Walker’s touchdown.

Ernest Jones IV

My personal winner on defense. He must be extended. Jones was very good against the Rams and excellent against San Francisco, showcasing his tackling skills and stymieing the 49ers rushing attack over and over again. He led the team with 13 tackles, which can be an empty stat, but about half of them were for no more than two yards. Unlike the Tyrel Dodson release, which I’m not totally sold on, I was fine with moving on from Jerome Baker for someone with greater upside. Jones is looking like a damn good middle linebacker.

Tyrice Knight

The rookie was second on the team in tackles (10) and looked fundamentally sound in his first start since Tyrel Dodson’s release. We’ll give it more time before we see if the big decision to give the former UTEP star a starting role (after not playing much for several weeks) pays off.

Devon Witherspoon

I think Witherspoon has had a good year outside of some of his issues with penalties and tackling. He was great today. His tipped ball led to Johnathan Hankins’ interception, and he broke up two other passes and was superb in tackling Deebo Samuel on the game’s penultimate play. You could tell the 49ers had some razzle-dazzle lateral planned and Witherspoon snuffed it out.

That was one of Witherspoon’s most impactful games of his young Seahawks career, and it was reminiscent of the promise he showed as a rookie.

Johnathan Hankins

How can he not be a winner? We got a thicc pick! And he jumped to make a hands catch while high-pointing the ball! That’s his first career interception in 12 seasons in the NFL, and it led to points.

Boye Mafe

No sacks for Mafe, but a pair of important passes defensed to deny the 49ers even a field goal attempt prior to halftime.

Dre’Mont Jones

Don’t discount the sack that Dre’Mont made before halftime. That was easily one of the biggest moments of this win. Jones has four sacks on the season and is on pace to exceed his career-high, which is 6.5.

Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II

Those two drew multiple holding penalties and were pivotal in Seattle’s run defense stuffing Christian McCaffrey repeatedly. It won’t show up on the stat sheet but they were extremely impactful in plugging gaps and blowing up plays in the backfield.

Julian Love and Coby Bryant

Love had a TFL on Deebo Samuel that was so unlike the typical result when Deebo gets the ball on a handoff. He had a brutal game against the 49ers in the first meeting, but he more than made up for it in the rematch. Meanwhile, Bryant should remain the starting safety alongside Love. Rayshawn Jenkins can come back off IR next week, but I’d rather see Bryant as the starter. He’s not the biggest safety in the world but I think the previous coaching staff was onto something converting him from slot corner to safety. Bryant has the versatility to provide value both ways, and his pursuit of ball-carriers (like on the last Jauan Jennings target) has been beautiful to watch.

Jason Myers

Can’t stress enough how big making two 50+ yard field goals was in the context of this game. Special teams has had its ups and (mostly) downs this year, Myers included, but Jason was on the money today.

Mike Macdonald

That was his masterpiece on defense. This was only the second time a Brock Purdy-led offense—I’m not counting his injury-shortened NFC Championship game against the Eagles—has failed to eclipse 300 yards in a game. Christian McCaffrey was held under 80 yards rushing. Deebo Samuel only had 21 total yards. Brock Purdy was limited to 146 net yards on 28 pass attempts. Only one pass play gained more than 20 yards and only two rushes gained more than 10. All of Seattle’s greatest enemies were vanquished (although Jauan Jennings has become the newest boss). We had not seen any of Pete Carroll’s defenses come close to this level of play against Kyle Shanahan’s defenses during the losing streak.

These last two division games have been his litmus tests for stopping offenses the Seahawks have generally struggled against, and while the defense gave up the winning TD in overtime versus Los Angeles, they still played well. Generally speaking, the defense was outstanding against the 49ers.

Losers

Zach Charbonnet

Woof. Charbonnet really does not have the power to get through initial contact on a consistant basis. The worrying part was the failed chip that resulted in Nick Bosa’s first sack of the game on the opening drive.

After another 4 carries for 3 yards, Charbonnet is averaging only 3.5 yards per carry and has been outrushed by Geno Smith in terms of total yards (222 to 217) and explosive plays. That is not a second-round pick value to me.

AJ Barner

Barner has been a pleasant gem as a receiving tight end, which wasn’t billed as his strength, but his blocking still needs work. The failed 4th and 1 run with Charbonnet involved Barner not blocking down on safety Ji’Ayir Brown. Barner also had a drop right before Geno’s interception, and that can be partially attributed to not sitting down on his route when coming to the ball. He’s a rookie and he’ll live and learn. I like his potential.

Ryan Grubb’s short-yardage playcalling

Have the Seahawks done a play-action pass on 3rd or 4th and 1 even once this year? I don’t understand why he doesn’t use it. I also don’t get why the Seahawks are so good with 21 personnel (two running backs, one tight end) in short-yardage and then he goes away from it on that failed Charbonnet run.

Grubb did commit to more under-center looks and not looking for an endless stream of shotgun dropback plays, but this aspect of his situational calls has to be cleaned up.

3rd down defense

No bueno except for Coby Bryant on the final drive. San Francisco was 7/11 on 3rd down, including multiple 3rd and 10+ conversions to Jauan Jennings. The Seahawks have generally been a good 3rd down defense this season but the only thing you could ding them for was allowing the 49ers to have long, clock-killing drives that shortened the game for both teams.

Final Notes

Anthony Bradford isn’t listed as giving up a sack but he effectively gave one up on the final drive by allowing instant pressure and forcing Geno to step up into Leonard Floyd’s arms. He also had what amounted to a drive-killing false start to close the half. Otherwise? Didn’t see too much bad from him alongside Abe Lucas.

Olu Oluwatimi looked good to me outside of the high snap, which Geno could’ve caught but I thought it was a good second career start for Oluwatimi. The 49ers not blitzing a lot made life a little easier for the offensive line in pass protection. I’ll look more at the OL play when the All-22 is available.

Welcome back, Abe Lucas. He was on a snap count restriction, and I’ll admit I wasn’t paying total attention when he switched out of the game for Michael Jerrell. The real test is whether his knee can hold up over the next few weeks and he can ramp up his conditioning to play 100% of the snaps.

Felt like Charles Cross got bullied a bit throughout the day by Yetur Gross-Matos and Leonard Floyd. Wasn’t his best performance, but you know who was clutch? Laken Tomlinson for getting the necessary block to allow Geno to scramble for the go-ahead rush TD.

Kenneth Walker III just has such little room to work with, which sucks because he’s amazing when he has space. Still got into the end zone for his seventh rushing TD on the season. He also body-slammed Deommodore Lenoir.

Only four penalties on the Seahawks, one of which was an intentional delay of game. Much, much better discipline in all three phases. Weird how you can win games by not playing so much losing football.

I guess the Seahawks may need new kick and punt returners next week following the injuries to Laviska Shenault Jr and Dee Williams. It looks like Dee’s injury might be a bit more serious.

The job is not done yet. The season comes down to these next three weeks. If they can sweep the Arizona Cardinals and vanquish the hapless New York Jets, that’s likely going to put the Seahawks in pole position to win the NFC West.Arizona is playing damn good football on both sides right now, and they’re going to have to be very disciplined when dealing with the run threat that is Kyler Murray. The fuzzy feelings could go away as early as next week. But in the meantime? Damn it feels fantastic to celebrate a win over the 49ers again. See you on Monday for Enemy Reaction.