sacks 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo
Note: Last Sunday at “The Clink” the Seattle Seahawks defeated their arch rival, the San Francisco 49ers, 37-27 in their most complete game so far this season. With the win the Hawks moved to 6-1 on the campaign and retained their one game lead in the NFC West over the Arizona Cardinals, who had a Week 8 bye. Against the 49ers Russell Wilson played nearly flawless football, completing 27 of 37 passes for 261 yards and 4 touchdowns, increasing his league leading total to 26 scoring throws. Meanwhile, Seattle’s budding superstar receiver, DK Metcalf, exploded for the best game of his young career, catching 12 passes for 161 yards and 2 scores; and veteran middle linebacker Bobby Wagner and the Hawks D began to show flashes of Super Bowl caliber defense, at long last. Speaking of Wagner, he had his best game of the season by far, with 11 total tackles, 3 tackles for loss and 2 sacks, a performance which earned him NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors. After last week’s mistake-fest in Arizona, it was a relief to see the Hawks dominate the 49ers. For the story of this game, please read on…MA
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In the Kyle Shanahan/Jimmy Garoppolo era there is a tried and true formula for beating the San Francisco 49ers: stop the run, force the game into Garoppolo’s hands, and then bring the pressure. That formula, which the Hawks employed last season in two very tight games with the 9ers, and which Kansas City accomplished in the 2nd half of last year’s Super Bowl, was used by Seattle again last Sunday in a convincing 37-27 victory over Beasts from the Bay Area. It was so good to see. For the first time this season our team displayed a defense that might be considered Super Bowl worthy; holding San Fran to 53 yards rushing and, through 3 quarters, limiting Garoppolo to 84 yards through the air while sacking him 3 times and forcing two turnovers. By the time Jimmy G was knocked out of the game late in the 3rd quarter after re-injuring his ankle, the Hawks had amassed a 27-3 lead and the game was effectively over.
end zone on 46-yard scoring play
Of course, there was more to the story of this game than the emergence of the Seahawks D; there was also, if it was needed, the confirmation of DK Metcalf as a bonafide NFL star. With a dozen catches for 161 yards and two TDs, the 22-year old Seattle receiver was simply unstoppable in this game; delivering a performance so stellar it’s among the best of any receiver in Seahawks history. To further elaborate on Metcalf and his potential, in the subjects of philosophy and logic there is an important principle one should know: that to understand any one datum or piece of information requires something comparable to relate it to. This is a challenge when it comes to Metcalf, because he is faster and bigger than any wide receiver in the NFL; he is rapidly mastering the arts of route running; how to use his hands to keep a defensive back off him; catching the ball with his hands, and blocking. To me there is only one answer to finding a receiver of comparable magnitude to Metcalf, and that would be the incomparable Detroit Lions wide-out, Calvin “Megatron” Johnson. When he came into the NFL in 2007, at 6’5”, 237 lbs and with a 4.35 second 40-yard dash speed, the League had never seen anything like “Megatron.” By his second season in the league he was a dominant receiver with 78 catches for over 1300 yards and 12 TDs. At 6’4” and 230 lbs with 4.33 40-yard dash speed, DK is on a pace this season to smash Johnson’s 2nd season stats. Before he is through, if he stays healthy, the Seattle sophomore receiver may well end up being one of the best to ever play the game.
Two plays in the first half of this game demonstrate the receiver the Metcalf is becoming, and to some extent already is. The first took place on the last play of the first quarter following a Seahawks interception of Garoppolo by defensive back DJ Reed. Late of the 49ers, Reed, who was signed by the Hawks after he was waived by San Francisco before the season started, stole a Jimmy G pass intended for George Kittle in a brilliant undercut of the tight end’s route, thus stopping a San Fran drive and giving Seattle the ball at their own 14-yd line. After punting on their first two possessions of the game, with Reed’s pick Wilson and the Seattle offense suddenly came to life, and within a few plays found themselves at the 49ers 46-yard line, where they had 2nd and 6 with 10 seconds left in the quarter. For the next play Wilson was lined up in shotgun with rookie running back DJ Dallas next to him in the backfield. Split to the quarterback’s left was Metcalf, while to his right were tight ends Greg Olsen and Jacob Hollister in a bunch with slot receiver Tyler Lockett between them. With the snap of the ball, DK took off straight up field, unimpaired by 49ers defensive back Emmanuel Moseley, who, in respect of Metcalf’s speed, was playing with outside leverage about 3 yards off the Seahawks receiver. At about the San Fran 37-yard line Metcalf put his foot in the ground and made a hard cut to the inside, causing Moseley to slip in trying to keep up with him. Thus, DK was wide open crossing the field from left to right, and Wilson wasted no time in putting the ball on him. Metcalf made the catch at the 9ers 37, just outside the left hash mark, then continued crossing the field left to right as he beat three 49ers defenders to the corner, turned up field, caught an excellent block from Hollister, and raced untouched to the end zone. To anyone familiar with football it was a stunning play. No less than 3 San Francisco defenders were in position to tackle him, but none could even lay a finger on him; the big guy is that fast.
With Hawk’s place-kicker Jason Meyers missing the PAT kick, (his first miss this season) Metcalf’s touchdown gave Seattle a 6-0 lead going into the 2nd quarter. Garoppolo and Co. would respond with a touchdown of their own following a long drive to take the lead 7-6. After the 49ers kickoff, the Seahawks next possession started with 1st and 10 at their own 19-yard line and just under 7 minutes left in the quarter. An 11-yard Wilson to Lockett connection, a short DJ Dallas run, a 15-yard laser to DK on the left sideline, and a defensive holding call, left the Hawks with 1st and 10 on the 9ers 47-yard line; the stage was now set for the next “Metcalf strikes again” moment.
For the play Wilson was again in shotgun, with DJ Dallas to his right in the backfield. Metcalf was again split to the quarterback’s left while Lockett was split to the right with the tight ends, Hollister and Olsen, to his left, between Tyler and right tackle Brandon Shell. Covering DK on the play once again was 49ers defensive back Moseley, who this time was up on the receiver, in more of a press coverage. As Wilson was calling the signals and making his pre-snap reads he no doubt saw Moseley in one on one press coverage on Metcalf, and instantly knew where to go with the ball. With the center snap the Seattle receiver gave Moseley a quick stutter step, then took off down the left sideline, keeping the defender on his inside shoulder. After a few strides DK had about a step on Moseley, and all Wilson had to do was loft the pass out in front and to the receiver’s outside shoulder, which put the ball in a place impossible for Moseley to get to. Metcalf hauled the ball in at about the 27-yard line and stepped out of bounds at the 12, for a 35-yard gain. Three plays later Seattle scored on a short Wilson dart to DK a couple yards deep in the end zone, and the Hawks took a lead in the game they would not relinquish.
twice during the game.
There would be more heroics from Wilson and Metcalf later in the game, but at this point I want to share some thoughts on the play of the Hawks defense. Following Metcalf’s second touchdown catch the 49ers began their next possession at their own 18-yard line. From there Garoppolo moved his team to a 1st down at the 49ers 30 and with 2 minutes left in the first half had designs on another scoring drive to take the lead before the break. Seattle’s D, however, would have none of that. On the first down play Jimmy G hit wide receiver Kendrick Bourne on a shallow out route to the left sideline which set up a 2nd and 7 situation at the 33. San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan then called one of those unique misdirection plays that he specializes in, wherein the entire flow of the play goes in one direction and then suddenly breaks back in the opposite direction—the idea being to deceive the defensive players into losing their gap responsibilities and surrendering a big play. In this instance, on taking the snap from shotgun, Garoppolo rolled quickly to his right while feigning looking down field to throw. Meanwhile, 49ers receiver Trent Taylor went in motion to the left, running parallel to the line of scrimmage out into the left flat, where he was joined by virtually every 49ers offensive linemen on the field in a futile attempt to set up a “throw-back” screen. Unfortunately for Trent Taylor, who was the prime receiver on the play, when the offensive linemen pulled left to set up the screen, the Seahawks defensive linemen simply followed them, and thus were in great position to stop Taylor for a 6-yard loss when the 49ers quarterback suddenly turned to his left and threw back to his receiver on the other side of the field. The play fooled a grand total of no one and left the 49ers with a 3rd and 13 at their own 27; a perfect time to unleash the blitz on Jimmy G.
As noted earlier in this article, Garoppolo does not handle pressure well. He tends to get happy feet in those circumstances, and will make mistakes; fumbles and interceptions. On this 3rd and 13 play, however, he didn’t even have time for happy feet. After bringing his team to the scrimmage line, from the shotgun formation he gazed out at a Seattle defensive front with 4 down linemen and middle linebacker Bobby Wagner standing in an obvious blitz position, just off the right shoulder of the 49ers center. Also in possible blitz position was Seattle rookie weak side linebacker, Jordyn Brooks, who was stationed behind the defensive line and a little further to the left. On plays like this, from a quarterback’s viewpoint, one of 3 things can happen: both linebackers can come on the blitz; one can come on the blitz and one drop into coverage; both linebackers can drop into coverage and leave the pass rush to the defensive line. Whichever Garoppolo thought would happen, he guessed wrong. With the snap of the ball both linebackers took off toward the quarterback; Brooks looping behind Wagner to the right before advancing up field, while Wagner simply took the shortest distance to get there—a straight line directly at Garoppolo. The 49ers center did his best to get a block on Wagner, but the Seahawks linebacker was just too fast, shedding the block easily and plowing in to the quarterback for the sack. With 4th down now upon them, the 49ers had to punt, and Seattle took the 13-7 lead into half time.
Russel Wilson now leads the league with 26
The Seahawks would go on to completely stifle the San Francisco offense in the 3rd quarter; forcing another turnover as they sacked Jimmy G again and built an insurmountable 27-3 lead. Garoppolo left the game with an ankle injury at the end of the quarter and wouldn’t return, handing the 9ers quarterbacking chores off to Nick Mullens, who played well enough to make the score a more respectable 37-27 by the time the game ended. Despite the 49ers rally, this game was by far, in my opinion, Seattle’s most complete game of the year. For the first time this season the Hawks showed a Super Bowl worthy defense to go with the high-flying exploits of Russell Wilson, DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and the rest of the offense, and that was really good to see.
Despite all that goodness, things don’t get any easier for our team, as this week they make one more 3,000-mile trek across the country for another 10 am Pacific Time start against the AFC East leading Buffalo Bills. With their young, gun-slinging quarterback Josh Allen leading the way, and receivers like Stefon Diggs, who has already caught 54 balls this year for nearly 700 yards, and Cole Beasley, with 41 catches for almost 500 yards, the Bills will be very tough to beat. To do it the Hawks will need their A game, and that defense will need another stellar effort. Helping Seattle will be the return of safety Jamal Adams after missing 4 games with a groin pull, and the addition of seasoned defensive end Carlos Dunlap from the trade with Cincinnati.
As tough as the Bills are, with Wilson, Metcalf and Seattle’s high-scoring offense, along with the improving D, I’m thinking the Seahawks should be able to come out of Buffalo with another victory.
Let’s hope I’m right!
Go Hawks!
Copyright © 2020
By Mark Arnold
All Rights Reserved
