The Associated Press
SANTA CLARA, Calif.—No turkey necessary this time; just some high-flying defence and more power running by Marshawn Lynch.
The Seattle Seahawks rediscovered their tried-and-true formula to get back in the win column, with Russell Wilson & Co. ruling this one-sided rivalry with San Francisco.
On another Thursday night—and on San Francisco’s home field again.
Wilson threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Lockett late in the first half, and Lynch added a leaping one-yard score, as Seattle beat the hapless 49ers 20-3 for its fourth-straight victory against its NFC West rival.
“It felt like a really normal Seahawk night tonight,” said coach Pete Carroll.
The Seahawks (3-4) whipped San Francisco in Levi’s Stadium on a Thursday in prime time 11 months after Richard Sherman chomped turkey on the field last Thanksgiving night following a 19-3 victory.
Wilson completed 10 of his first 12 passes and finished with 235 yards passing while Lynch ran for 122 yards after vomiting on the sideline in the first half, something Carroll said was caused by him getting winded during a busy opening drive.
Seattle also won for the first time in four road games this season—avoiding another fourth-quarter collapse.
Carroll and his players were thrilled how they came together after a tough loss at home Sunday against Carolina.
“After the tough loss, we said, ‘We choose to believe,’” Wilson said.
“The idea was to believe in one another. . . .
“We lost four tough games but we thought we could have won each one of those,” Wilson noted.
This game lacked its usual intrigue with both teams trying to save their seasons and Carroll missing former nemesis and now-Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh.
Wilson made the key plays and Colin Kaepernick struggled once again facing Seattle as the 49ers (2-5) lost four days after snapping a four-game losing streak by beating Baltimore.
Steven Hauschka sent dirt flying when he kicked a 49-yard field goal in the second quarter four days after Ravens’ kicker Justin Tucker slipped on the turf and shanked one off the right upright on the field that will host the Super Bowl in early February.
Wilson was sacked five times to push his NFL-leading total to 31 and threw a pair of interceptions, but still made plenty of big plays for another lopsided result against the Niners.
Fans left early again in an eerily similar scene to last Thanksgiving night, when 49ers’ CEO Jed York apologized on Twitter in the waning moments by saying: “This performance wasn’t acceptable. I apologize for that.”
This time, it was former 49ers’ wideout Kassim Osgood weighing in on Twitter with: “Something ain’t right in SF.”
Kaepernick’s errant passes sailed into both sidelines—one ball even hitting a 49ers’ staff member in the head early in the game and requiring him to be checked.
Phil Dawson kicked a 35-yard field goal late in the third quarter, and the 49ers have been held to single digits in their past three losses to Seattle with just one touchdown—outscored 56-13.
