Seahawks Studs & Duds in NFC West-clinching win over 49ers

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The Seattle Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers 13-3 for their franchise-record 14th regular season win and were crowned NFC West Champions while taking the number one seed in the NFC. They controlled this game in time of possession 37:48-22:12, offensive plays 67-42, and offensive yards 361-173. They didn’t take risks or make many splash plays, but they did exactly what they needed to when they needed to do it to control the game and squeeze hope out of their rival.

Here were their Studs & Duds in Week 18.

STUDS

RB Duo

Zach Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker III ran the Seahawks to the number one seed with their best collective game of the season. The Seahawks run game needed fast fixes after mid-season struggles, and it’s come alive in the last three weeks in particular. The two running backs combined for 20 total touches and 230 total yards, including 151 yards after contact. They punished San Francisco’s aggressive tackling with a mix of quality runs to the inside and outside. Charbonnet got loose to the sideline for a 27-yard touchdown which opened the scoring and consistently churned positive yards, while Walker was a first down machine. We’re finally seeing the beauty of Klint Kubiak’s committee approach come to life. When teams played Seattle’s elite passing offense with conservative defense early in the year, the run game struggled to punish light boxes. Now, they imposed their will against one of the better run defenses in the NFL.

Drake Thomas

Drake Thomas came up with one of the clutch plays of the season to keep the 49ers out of the end zone on the night. On 2nd-and-goal from Seattle’s own 6-yard line, Brock Purdy was pressured and tried to find Christian McCaffrey, who bobbled the pass nearly incomplete before Thomas came up right behind him to secure the ball and take it out of bounds. This interception stopped San Francisco’s best drive of the night, where they likely would’ve capitalized and made it a one-score game in the 4th quarter. He also collected five tackles and two passes defended. Thomas’ violent tackling was matched by his coverage ability, making him a scarily complete player and enabling Seattle’s defense to hold an elite offense to just 3 points after they averaged over 40 points per game in the three prior contests.

Riq Woolen

Tariq Woolen ruined the 49ers gameplan by playing lockdown coverage all night long. This was a revenge game for him after giving up the game winning touchdown in embarrassing fashion in the rivalry’s previous matchup in Week 1. They targeted him 5 times, more than any other Seahawk defender- and while he gave up 3 catches, they only accounted for 12 total yards. He got his revenge and some weight off his shoulders heading into the playoffs. Riq is the latest in a series of starters to take away their biggest weaknesses, making the defense as complete as ever- and extremely hard to gameplan against heading into the playoffs.

Grey Zabel

Grey Zabel played arguably the best game of his rookie season when they needed it most. He was in for all 67 of the Seahawks offensive plays, and his versatility in the pass and run game shined. In pass protection, he didn’t give up a single pressure, let alone a hurry, QB hit, or sack, keeping Sam Darnold clean all night. In the run game, his power on the interior allowed both running backs to have their most successful game of the season, paving lanes for big runs to the inside and outside. He’s had Stud plays all season, but enough Dud plays to land him on the other side of the list at times. He took a step forward tonight, and showed the ability to keep unlocking more from his wealth of potential. He helped lead the Seahawks offensive line to a standout performance despite Charles Cross’ absence and Josh Jones playing at less than 100%, and deserves credit for their incredibly sound night.

DUDS

Jake Bobo

Jake Bobo was the lone member of the Seahawks offense who failed to capitalize on his role in the gameplan. He missed a crucial block early on that prevented a potential big play to the outside. He also got open in the end zone over the middle on 4th-and-goal, but not quick enough for Sam Darnold to see him. His specific set of tools hasn’t gelled with the system much this season, and he’s been noticeable mainly for making little mistakes that cost the offense. He only saw 9 snaps tonight, and hasn’t shown a reason to carve out a role in the gameplan in the future either. He is a good special teams player and could be a great Hail Mary option, but isn’t fitting the bill of sound, clean, quick football they want to play right now, and they’re having plenty of success without him.

Jason Myers

Jason Myers started January on the wrong foot after an awesome November and December. He hit just two of four field goals tonight, making from 45- and 31-yards out while missing from 26- and 47-. The Seahawks could’ve put the game well out of reach with those two, but he came back to earth tonight and proved nothing is automatic. There was heavy wind in Santa Clara, but kicking conditions won’t get any easier through the playoffs in January. His 26-yard miss was especially uncharacteristic to the pinpoint accuracy he’s known for as a kicker, and he was visibly angered by it on the sidelines. His even-keel golf demeanor will help him rebound and he’s still earned the trust of his team, but multiple missed opportunities made the game close longer than it should’ve been.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Boye Mafe tipped Purdy’s late pass to McCaffrey, leading to Thomas’ clutch interception. He showed excellent awareness all night against the 49ers lanky tackle tandem of Colton McKivitz and Austin Pleasants… Nick Emmanwori was all over the field, tackling exceptionally well in the open field and showing smarts in coverage to keep Kyle Shanahan’s play calls guessing. He led the team with seven tackles, one for loss, and added a QB hit, a hurry, and two pressures… Josh Jobe worked well opposite Woolen and Devon Witherspoon set the tone with big tackles as the Seahawks secondary kept a quiet night intact for all but one drive… Byron Murphy and Leonard Williams were a wrecking crew again, and Jarran Reed added himself to the mix with a sack and a tackle for loss… the blocking was awesome big advantage, from the offensive line to the backfield, where Robbie Ouzts helped out as a lead blocker and in pass protection, earning himself 20 snaps… Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught 6 of 8 targets for 84 yards and finished the regular season with 1,793 receiving yards, the eighth-most in a single season in NFL history... the Seahawks rushing defense held Christian McCaffrey to a shockingly low 23 yards on 8 carries and STILL has not allowed a 100-yard rusher in 26 games and counting.

There weren’t many duds in this one as Seattle played an incredibly sound game of football to win with control, despite the low point total.

This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Seahawks Studs & Duds in 13-3 Week 18 win over 49ers

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