The Seattle Seahawks faced a tough challenge in Week 6 against the San Francisco 49ers, and sure enough, they were unable to prevail, as they suffered a 36-24 loss to fall to 3-3 on the season. After suffering an upset defeat at the hands of the New York Giants in Week 5, the Seahawks were hoping to get back on track against the Niners, but they ultimately were unable to.
There have been a lot of problems plaguing Seattle early on in the season, and several of those issues reared their ugly head once again on Thursday night. So with the game officially in the books, let's take a look at the three players most to blame for this crushing loss that will push Seattle back to second place in the NFC West for the time being.
DK Metcalf
For much of his career, Metcalf has struggled to consistently produce like a number one wide receiver. While he frequently puts together massive games for the Seahawks, he also goes through phases where he struggles to get much of anything going. That is precisely what ended up happening against the 49ers, as Metcalf hauled in just three passes for 48 yards on the night.
Yes, he drew a tough matchup against Charvarius Ward, but Metcalf was targeted 11 times on the night. Things look different if he doesn't have a 52-yard touchdown called back for an illegal shift from Kenneth Walker III, but that's the risk you run if you are a boom-or-bust player, and this was another instance where Metcalf's final numbers left a lot to be desired.
Geno Smith
Seattle trailed this for pretty much the entirety of this game, which meant Geno Smith was forced to air the ball out quite a bit. The problem was that the results left a lot to be desired. Smith completing 30 of his 52 pass attempts for 312 yards and a touchdown isn't bad, but he threw a pair of costly interceptions at really poor times for the Seahawks.
On a night where San Francisco didn't turn the ball over, Smith's two turnovers leading to 10 points proved to be incredibly costly for the Seahawks. It's tough to win games when you lose the turnover battle, and while Smith did a lot of stuff right in this one, he needed to do a better job protecting the football, because it ultimately ended up playing a huge role in their inability to come out on top in this one.
Julian Love
Julian Love is a key piece of Seattle's secondary, but he chose a pretty bad time to turn in his worst outing of the year. A quick glance at his stats doesn't exactly make his game look bad, as he led the Seahawks in tackles with 10, while also picking up a pass defended along the way. The problem is he was directly responsible for a pair of the 49ers touchdowns.
Love, who is the Seahawks best tackler, completely whiffed on a tackle of Deebo Samuel, which resulted in him taking off for his 76-yard score. Love was also in coverage on George Kittle for his first score of the game, although it is worth noting that his coverage was generally solid, as Kittle made a terrific catch on a pinpoint pass from Brock Purdy. As a Pro Bowl caliber player, though, Love has to be better for Seattle in these spots, and his bevy of mistakes proved costly for his team on Thursday night.