After a brutal 31-13 loss on Thanksgiving night to the San Francisco 49ers at home, it's time for the Seattle Seahawks to do some soul-searching and figure out how they can compete with the league's elite teams. After two straight losses to division rivals in the Rams and 49ers, the Seahawks are reeling a bit at 6-5 with tough matchups against the Cowboys, 49ers, and Eagles up ahead.
Who should take the most blame for the Seahawks' disappointing performance in Week 12? Let's take a look.
QB Geno Smith struggles again
You have to give Geno Smith credit for playing through an elbow injury, but he was totally ineffective at quarterback for the Seahawks in this one. The 49ers defense has a habit of making opposing quarterbacks look bad, but Smith has been up and down all season for the Seahawks with his accuracy and playmaking. Smith held on to the ball too long against the 49ers elite pass rush (six sacks taken) and couldn't get the ball out quickly to his playmakers out wide.
Smith wasn't done any favors by Seattle's game plan, but there were multiple passes that could have been completed had he shown better accuracy on his throws. The Seahawks should be better at getting separation from their receiving corps, but the 49ers broke up five passes and picked off Smith once as well.
The Seahawks needed to find ways to attack downfield or get the ball out quickly, and Smith was largely unable to do either with any real success. The Seahawks didn't sustain drives and were just 3-for-11 on third downs, putting a tired defense on the field against an electric 49ers offense far too often.
WR DK Metcalf gets outplayed
Against a team with an elite edge rush, you need your receivers out wide to win consistently. DK Metcalf couldn't do that with any sort of consistency, as Charvarius Ward broke up three passes and got the best of Metcalf most of the evening. Despite being targeted a game-high nine times, Metcalf failed to win contested catch situations and make any real sort of impact on the game.
The Seahawks simply need more from their star wide receiver on a consistent basis. Metcalf hasn't been very effective with his target share over the last few weeks, and it's hurting Seattle's offense. There are catches being left on the table for Metcalf, as he ranks 105th among all receivers in ESPN's catch rating this year.
The Seahawks offense can't compete against the league's elite defenses unless Metcalf himself plays at extremely high level. That hasn't happened enough against some of the tougher teams on Seattle's schedule.
Pete Carroll's game plan
This showing for the Seahawks was even worse than it looked, as Brock Purdy gifted Seattle with a pick-6 to keep the game relatively close early on. Seattle being unable to score an offensive touchdown or even get into the red zone belies a lack of imaginative game-planning from Pete Carroll and his staff.
It was surprising to see Seattle take so few chances offensively, whether it be with deep balls or trick plays to try and loosen up San Francisco's defense. Carroll usually thrives when his team is an underdog, but the Seahawks didn't pull out any real surprises and mostly just left Geno Smith in the pocket to be a sitting duck.
Seattle's inability to get a screen game working or attack the perimeter resulted in pedestrian totals for Zach Charbonnet, who was filling in for the injured Kenneth Walker III. Walker's home-run hitting ability was sorely missed, but it would have been nice to see Seattle put him in different situations rather than just running him straight into the wall that is Fred Warner every other carry.
Carroll and the Seahawks will get another shot at the 49ers soon, but a different, more imaginative offensive gameplan will need to be put in place. The 49ers defense is simply too good to play vanilla football against, and we'll see if Seattle can recognize that after the brutal Week 12 loss to their NFC West division rival.
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