Defense The Difference As Seahawks Lose To 49ers, 17-13
By Jake Parr edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - The Seattle Seahawks started the 2025 season off on the wrong foot, losing to NFC West division rivals the San Francisco 49ers. In a game where both teams struggled to exert their will on offense, Seattle got the worst end of it, producing just 230 yards of offense and a single touchdown. A controversial decision to kick a field goal on 4th and 1 late in the fourth quarter instead of going for the touchdown came back to haunt the Seahawks, as the 49ers, led by running back Christian McCaffrey, ran over the exhausted Seattle defense en route to a game winning touchdown. First-year Seahawk quarterback Sam Darnold and the rest of his offensive unit will have to spend the week picking up the pieces before heading off to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers.
San Francisco Gold Rush
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald has long extolled his “bend, don’t break” philosophy of defense. It’s okay if they get a handful of yards at a time, but don’t let them have the big play and make red zone stops when you need them. That doctrine worked, to a point, for the Seahawks today, as even though they had trouble stopping Christian McCaffrey as both a rusher (69 yards) and a receiver (73 yards), they kept the 49ers’ star out of the end zone. He was definitely San Francisco's favorite target, with 22 carries on the ground and 9 receptions in the air, the highest number of each for his team. But Seahawks like Julian Love, Devon Witherspoon, and Ernest Jones IV were consistently able to flood the box and limit him to short gains. But he did draw the defense’s attention, allowing for 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy to make two touchdown passes, just enough to win the game. In the gold rush of 1849, it wasn’t the miners who got rich, it was the people selling the shovels. And while McCaffery didn’t find paydirt, others on his team did.
Ground pounding was the name of the game from both sides, as Seattle QB Sam Darnold and San Francisco QB Brock Purdy both posted below average passer ratings of 87.2 and 92.2, respectively. Zach Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker III shared rushing duties, with Charbonnet picking up 47 yards on 12 carries, and Walker III accumulating 20 yards on 10 rushes. Charbonnet was the lone Seahawk to score a touchdown today, punching in a 1-yard run in the second quarter. After taking on heavy responsibility last year with Kenneth Walker III’s series of injuries, his game seems to have improved in 2025.
The Third Phase
Special teams is an unloved phase of the game, and only ever gets attention if something goes disastrously wrong. Fortunately for the Seahawks, the 49ers suffered serious special teams breakdowns today, the only thing that kept Seattle in the game. San Francisco kicker Jake Moody had a difficult season last year, struggling with missing kicks. And his problems rolled over into 2025. After a long San Francisco drive stalled out at the Seattle 8 yard line, the 49ers sent Moody out to kick a chip shot field goal. There are no guarantees in the National Football League, but a 27-yard attempt is as chip-shot as it gets, and is six yards closer to the goal than an extra point attempt. Perhaps because of the infamous Lumen Field noise, perhaps because the ball was placed far on the left side of the hashes, or perhaps due to simple week one nerves, Moody missed the kick, bouncing it off the left upright.
Moody’s Very Bad Day in Seattle didn’t stop there, though, as he was sent back out in the 3rd quarter to punch in a 36-yard field goal. But it was not to be. Julian Love exploited a small gap in the San Francisco line, leaping with all his might and taking flight at the perfect moment to block Moody’s kick. Six points were taken off the board for the 49ers across those two plays, effectively a full touchdown. Not an auspicious start to what Moody hopes is his comeback season.
Department of Defense
In the end, it came down to defense. Moody finally managed to make a field goal in the fourth quarter, tying the game at 10-10. Seattle was the victim of a brutal -6 yard 3-and-out on their next drive, but was bailed out by Seahawks cornerback Josh Jobe who intercepted Brock Purdy at midfield. In the offensive drive that would come to define the game, Sam Darnold led his Seahawks all the way to the San Francisco 19 yard line. Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet did their jobs, picking up 4-7 yards in a cloud of dust nearly every time they got the ball. But still, the Seahawks found themselves facing 4th down and 1 yard to gain. Mike Macdonald chose to take an easy lead and trust in his defense rather than going for it, however, and sent out Jason Myers to kick the field goal.
With a three point lead, the Seahawks defense tried to make a stand, but had no answer for a San Francisco offense that suddenly leaned on its passing game. Brock Purdy’s arm carried the 49ers all the way to the endzone, taking advantage of two missed plays by Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen. Woolen first misread the ball out of Purdy’s hand, slowing a hair and allowing a 20-yard completion. And then in the end zone, with an opportunity to intercept or deflect Purdy’s game-winning pass, he played back on the ball, waiting for it to come to him. Instead, San Francisco receiver Jake Tonges, who also caught the 20-yard pass, cut across him and caught the ball right in Woolen’s face. That touchdown gave the 49ers a 17-13 lead, but Seattle still had one last chance to score a touchdown and win the game.
At first, Sam Darnold took control, with 11 yard and 40 yard passes to Jaxon Smith-Njigba. With 42 seconds still on the clock, facing 2nd and 5 at the 49ers own 9 yard line, Darnold dropped back to pass. He pulled his armed back and fired it forward, aiming for an open Kenneth Walker III just past the first down marker. But the ball was already on the ground, having been knocked loose by 49er Nick Bosa. Bosa then fell on the ball, recovering the fumble for San Francisco and ending the game. Nine yards away from magic, the Seahawks fell short.
At the end of the game, Mike Macdonald trusted his defense to make a stand against a desperate and determined opponent more than he trusted his offense to gain a single yard from scrimmage. That is not an arrangement that can persist if the Seahawks want to win ballgames. Macdonald needs to have trust in Sam Darnold and offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. They're his hires after all. The field goal scored too few points and gave San Francisco too much time, and the Seahawks started their season with a loss to a divisional opponent. To bounce back they'll need more performance out of -- and trust in -- their offense.
What’s Next?
The Seahawks have to put today’s divisional loss out of their minds and head out of town for a cross-conference matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday. The Steelers won a close game 34-32 against the New York Jets, using quarterback Aaron Rodgers to tear down his former team.
Kickoff for next week’s game is scheduled for 10 AM Pacific time, and will be available on TV via Fox Sports and on radio through either Seattle Sports 710 AM or KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM.
Instagram: @CirclingSeattleSports Twitter: @CirclingSports Threads: @CirclingSeattleSports Tiktok: @CirclingSeattleSports Facebook: Circling Seattle Sports Bluesky: @circlingseasports.bsky.social
〰️
Instagram: @CirclingSeattleSports Twitter: @CirclingSports Threads: @CirclingSeattleSports Tiktok: @CirclingSeattleSports Facebook: Circling Seattle Sports Bluesky: @circlingseasports.bsky.social 〰️
Check out our previous Seattle Seahawks articles here.
Check out our previous articles written by Jake Parr here, and his Lookout Landing articles here.
Cover photo via the Seattle Seahawks website.
Support the work of Circling Seattle Sports by checking out our merchandise!
