Final: 49ers 23, Hawks 10
Posted By Eric Williams on September 20, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Share this
First, here’s an update on Matt Hasselbeck.
Seahawks head coach Jim Mora said Hasselbeck went in for X-rays and a CT scan. Mora said the X-rays came back negative, and the CT scan was inconclusive but looks positive. Mora described the injury as a rib bruise, and that he’s feeling better. Mora said Hasselbeck will meet the team back at the plane and will fly home with the rest of his teammates.
“It was a great effort by Matt trying to get into the end zone,” Mora said. “You love to see that, but you hate to see the results.”
Even with all of the injuries, Mora said there’s no panic among the players in the locker room, or a feeling like this is 2008 happening all over again.
“It was a little overwhelming today to try to overcoming having 10 starters out,” Mora said. “And we weren’t able to get that done. I certainly don’t want that to sound like an excuse. I think the 49ers deserve a ton of credit for the way they played today. But that’s something we have to deal with, and we will. We’ll come back with resolve. And we’ll play better next week.”
Mora alluded to the fact that Seattle will get some players back next week, with Walter Jones, Brandon Mebane and Deion Branch all likely to be ready for next week’s game against Chicago.
And he also hinted that the team might make some moves to improve its depth.
Mora said Lofa Tatupu told the team he couldn’t go when he realized that he might injure his hamstring worse than it already is early in the game.
No updates on Sean Locklear (ankle) or Josh Wilson (ankle).
The Seahawks found themselves down only 13-10 at halftime with a chance to get back in it. Then Frank Gore broke loose for 80 yards untouched and that pretty much was game time.
“Really the back breaker for us was you come out on the first play of the second half and Frank Gore takes it 80,” Mora said. “We felt like we were back in it and we had some momentum, and we were fired up and we were focused And pop! 80 yards. Boy that sucks the air out of you.”
These injuries are starting to give me a familiar feeling. I'm sick to my stomach right now. I know we can play better, I know its early in the season.
One thing that needs to change now..Mr. Big Play Babs. I have been sick of this guy for 3 or 4 years now. Absolutely SICK of this guy as a safety. The only spot he played remotely decently was at nickelback. He is a joke.
I am sorry to call out any seahawk like this but its true
So...should we be relieved that the Hawks weren't blown out despite missing 11 of their starters or is the NFC west all about the "inconvenient truth?"
HawksKD - you win the prize. Babineaux was the starter at S in both of the 2006 games Gore gashed the Seahawks in. Babineaux hadn't started since then and Gore has been relatively quiet against the Seahawks since then. Babineaux takes very poor angles and is a poor tackler. Gore's long runs in 2006 didn't result in TDs because Trufant and his top-end speed was able to track him down.
Why can't this team ever pick up an average Safety this entire decade?
I agree with you're paragraph, no doubt about it. It's interesting to me that so many were clamoring for Babs this preseason. Today was a reminder why they replaced him with Boulware. (That is in no way a defense, back handed or otherwise of Russell.)
Another thing is clear as day to me as well; Vallos is not a capable starting NFL center. He was manhandled today to the point he could no longer get the ball to the QB. The sooner they get Spencer back this season the better. And looking forward, they have to get Unger in there because he is not the RG of the future. Vallos is an extreme liability at center. I know a lot of people here like him but the game film speaks for itself.
As are all, I'm anxious to hear the severity of WIlson, Matt, Lock and Lofa's injuries. Ugh.
More to the point----what the he$$ is up with our conditioning????? It seems that we are consistently losing one or two players a game. I realize that it's a contact sport-----but it appears that we're taking the brunt of the contact instead of dishing it out.....
Pabuwal---------gore should never have gotten to Babs-------seems like our d-line was manhandled today----i saw tapp out of position twice and the tackles seemed to be taking the wrong line on each of those plays
Of course Gore never should have gotten that far. But Babs has to play like an NFL Safety and be the last line of defense. Otherwise this Seahawks team will be like every other Seahawks team since the late 90s - constantly victimized by the big play. The angles this guy takes is ridiculous.
I have to say that I was pleased to only lose by 13 pts with 11 starters out. However, we have to be honest with ourselves. SF outplayed us in every aspect of the game today. They were in better shape, more physical, and made plays when they had to. As of right now, I think the Seahawks and the Cardinals are fighting for second in the division. I know that it is only week two, but from what I have seen these last two weeks the 49s have the most complete team. Now, if we could get most of our starters back I think it would be a different story.
I have to say that I was very dissapointed in Curry today. He miss some tackles and was pushed around quite a bit. I hope he can just learn from it.
Awful game obviously. Let's give it up for Lawrence Jackson though, we have been riding his ass all off season and he has delivered. 4 tackles 2 sacks and a forced fumble. He was the only one getting pressure today and you have to hand it to him
Curry had a dreadful afternoon, simply put. The final score doesn't come close to reflecting just how bad they were whipped.
yup, but the Seahawks beat themselves worse then the Niners beat them
Agreed about Jackson. Time will tell if that was a breakout performance or not but it was nice to see.
Jackson looked like a stud. So did Forsett. Yet we have to watch Julius Jones and James get the bulk of the work. These 2 are a major part of the problem this offense has.
Forsett's play was one of the only things that looked really good from our perspective. I hope he starts getting the ball more.
From what I saw it was Patrick Kearney that hurt the Seahawks several times today. While getting no real pressure from him, on the 80 yard Gore run he ran right by Gore and didn't even touch him. Then, instead of falling on the strip from Hill, he went for the pickup and run, costing the team a turn over. That said, there is blame enough to go all the way around. For whatever reason this defense just doesn't seem to take the next step. These are just my opinions.
Matt: You are the Hawks MVP and everyone knows we cannot afford to lose you! I respect the warrior attitude but trying to run headfirst to the endzone for one score in gametwo of the season was not a smart decision for a seasoned quarterback. In the future...feet first please! You are too valuable to take these kind of risks.
Outplayed? 2 runs of 80 yards that easily should have been stopped by any NFL FS with the ability of say a, Kenny Hamlin.
We did have a top ten FS in the past decade. TR replaced him with Russell and Grant. Both of which R not as good as what was replaced. 4 & 3 years in the playoffs, a SB. Now we're back to Gore Big Play Babs. Had Babineaux made that early INT against the Bears (3rd down '06 playoffs and ball went through his hands to Berrian), Hawks would have gone on to consecutive SB's.
Housh is sure having a rough go of it. Think he might have made more of an effort for the SW bomb, left sideline. Sure looked catchable. Then open right endzone and SW under threw. Drat!
Hamlin wasn't always mentally in the game. Case in point - during that Bears game you accurately cited, Hamlin was caught peeking in the backfield when Grossman threw that long TD bomb to Berrian.
Babineaux also dropped a Favre INT in the 2007 playoff game while the Seahawks were up 14-0.
The Seahawks have constantly been victimized by big plays this decade after having a good run of Safeties in the 80s and 90s.
Hi Eric
what kind of moves will the hawks be making? Releasing branch to create roster spot ??
Before they cut Branch, they should think about cutting James as long as they will be on the hook for an entire year's salary. Maybe bring up Devin Moore. James has nothing left in the tank at this point. This run game will be a sore point the entire year.
Eric, I too am wondering if this will prompt any roster moves. Those two huge runs by Gore-- Babineaux wasn't even anywhere in sight!
Pabuwal
LOL , went to the restroom and came back as we were returning the kick off. What a bummer! Just as I thought we had put them away.
All I know is a love my hawks. But games like this one make it hard to stay positive. We just can't get any breaks!
So is Hass ok will he be back next week. Or is it going to be the same thing. Hawks say player is fine get to wednesday and out 6-8 weeks with broken pulled or sprained somthing.
I'm sick of Mora saying he is "optimistic" on players injurys.
We have picked up a good, solid S who did well for us --- Manuel. While he wasn't a stud, he played his role well and was an asset to our team. When he went out of the SB, we fell way off in production from that position. That was a case where Hamlin getting hurt actually helped the team because Manuel is/was better for us. Not more talented, just a more productive football players.
When you're in the double digits of starters out... it's not a good sign. If you want to go fight a big bully and they chop off one of your arms and he has two and you only have one... it makes it tough to win the fight. I am so sick and tired of the injury bug that I could scream.
Kerney - he's not very good. At least he hasn't played that way through 1/8 of the season He's a liability in the running game. His best years are definitely behind him.
LoJack - WTF... keep proving me wrong... granted the Rams and 49ers have about as bad of pass protection as you can get, but he's getting pressure that others are not getting on our team so there's something to him right now and I like it.
Mebane - IMO he's our best defensive player and we need him back.
Bryant - there's a reason he wasn't even active last week. He looked like a slow and bad marshmallow on the first long Gore run. If you're that big and strong... you shouldn't be getting whipped like that.
Redding - The jury is still out. Is it me or is he a jeckle/hyde type of player? He seems to get good push and make a difference on one play and then he'll be out of sight on the next. Am I wrong?
Moving towards the OL...
Is it me or are some of you less than impressed with Unger at RG? There are some guys that seem like naturals for certain positions and out of place at others. Even rewatching a few preseason games... I thought I noticed that Unger looked much better at G than he did at C. I just wish we would put him at C and leave him there for a decade.
As bad as Spencer is, he is better than Vallos. Either way, I want Unger at C. I think that's what's best for the team.
Should read that Unger looks like a good C while not looking that good at G.
I don't think Devon Moore earned a spot on the PS let alone on the roster!
go steal someone off of another team's PS that might actually have a future in the NFL. heck there is one on SF's that I would love to steal.
I was dissappointed they didn't use James more today - supposedly a good pass blocker and receiver and you used Griffin instead - stupid!!! Especially when he dropped a few screen passes!! or just ran out of bounds
Agreed on the Lawrence Jackson and Justin Forsett sentiments. They played great games today. Housh had a pretty solid game, too. I like his fiery attitude out there. A couple more catches and we might have come away with a win, despite everything that went down.
I'm not too worried about SF. Up against a solid defensive line (read: not ours today), Gore can be contained. Their passing game is weak. SF will crumble, mark my words. And they won't win at Qwest. I'll be there making sure of it.
All I really care about right now is that Matt is able to play in the next two weeks (and every week thereafter).
What does James really have left at this point? This is an offense that moves the ball slowly - can they really afford to have James eat up downs with 3 yard touches?
If we can go into our bye at 4-2 I think we'll be sitting okay. These first 6 games are our easier part of the schedule and, hopefully, we can get to the bye at 4-2 so we'll have a chance to rest up before getting to the harder part of our schedule.
Matt Fragileback is out - shock and ahhh. The season is dead, either he will come back and hobble around like a baby game after game or limp-armed Wallace will toss his floaters all over the field.
What did we know at the end of last season? We knew our QB was a sissy with a new back excuse and no backup and we knew our offensive line was old and broken. With the #4 pick we shored up the linebacking corp, the only solid part of the team. Good thing we got that young tackle of the future in the second round, oops, no we didn't, we got another center, and a Duck, no less. In fact, they didn't address their weaknesses at all - no safety help, no CB help, nothing.
And Burleson couldn't catch a cold in southeast Asia during the flu season! Horrible, horrible, horrible! The one catch he does seem to catch? The one inn the field of play at the end of the game when we need him out of bounds. Cut him today.
Oh and great punts by Ryan today.
And Brian Billick's Singletary fanboyism was utterly disgusting.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/10093980/Billick-gave-Singletary-a-start-
Thye 2 big runs were due to linebackers overpursuing and getting blocked.
Think the first one was Curry and the 2nd was Hawthorne.
You can blame Babs, but those runs should have been stuffed by the linebackers.
I hate stacking the box, it makes it that much easier to break the big one.
Bad day in Hawk land, but without those 2 runs it would have been a game.
Gotta get a new training staff, way too many back and hammi injuries the past 2 years
maumau, you beat me to it. I was wondering where Hawthorne and Herring were on those runs. Another thing that was disappointing was the dropped passes. I counted 8 including the one Nate could not get that resulted in the pick. I realize the throw was high but he should have caught that.
Unger certainly played worse than last week. He gave up the first sack. But he played very well last week so there is reason to believe he can be a capable guard, but he is not a long range answer there. They have to get him to center sooner, rather than later. Vallos must go one way or another. He played worse today than he did last Thanksgiving in Dallas, if that's possible. He is not a quality starter. My feeling is that if Walt is able to go next week, move Unger to center and put Wrotto at RG (assuming Spencer is still unable to go) If Walt and Spencer can go, Unger stays at RG. Either way, they must get stronger in the middle of their line.
Blame can be laid on Babs and the linebackers both for the 49ers ability to run, seemingly at will. But their o line opened up massive holes against the 'Hawks d line consistently, all day. That is a failing of the front 4. Today, they were handled with ease, and it was painful to watch.
I was at this one - and disagree that we got manhandled and/or dominated. 49ers have a tough, physical defense, very clear today, but when Matt was in, you still felt that the Hawks could move the ball when they needed to - obviously that completely changed when he was out.
It was really mostly a defensive battle - and i disagree that they dominated our line - but you just can't give up two 80 yard runs - and I haven't watched the replays yet, but my reaction watching it was the same as many here, where were the Safeties? That's their role - and they either took bad angles, or were out of position to begin with - b/c Gore, while faster than I thought, isn't Adrian Peterson.
Tough, hard-hitting game, that Burleson flip on the tackle was crazy.
As long as Matt is back - I'm not going to code red yet. And yeah, completely agree with the sentiment here that Forsett needs to keep getting touches - doesn't matter how big he is, it def takes more to bring him down than JJ.