SAN FRANCISCO – The 49ers beat the Seahawks 13-6. Here are the grades for the 49ers’ defense.
Defensive line: C+. Marshawn Lynch rushed for 103 yards on this group, which has given up 100-yard rushers two weeks in a row. However, when Lynch came Justin Smith’s way, Smith stopped him most of the time. Smith finished with a team-high 9 tackles, but he did get planted on his back by Russell Okung on one running play. Ray McDonald recorded two tackles and was flagged for an offsides penalty.
Linebackers: B. Willis and Bowman finished with 15 combined tackles, which is good, but below their standard. They both blitzed more than usual, and they were effective – Bowman hit QB Russell Wilson twice and Willis knocked two passes down. Ahmad Brooks was mostly held in check, but Aldon Smith put the game away with a sack late in the fourth quarter.
Secondary: A. Dashon Goldson intercepted a pass and batted away two others. He’s been the best player in the 49ers’ secondary this season. He got in Lynch’s face and got flagged for trash talking, but said after the game that Lynch is coming over to his house tonight – they’re old buddies. Chris Culliver bounced back from a poor performance last week, batting away two passes when he was in single-coverage. This entire group held the Seahawks to just 19 receiving yards in the second half.
Special teams: A. David Akers did not miss a field goal – he was 2-for-2. Andy Lee planted four of his five punts inside the Seahawks’ 20 yard line. Ted Ginn Jr. returned 3 punts for 70 yards, and the 49ers kick coverage unit held Leon Washington to just five yards on two punt returns.
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Linebackers deserve higher. Willis tip huge.
Culliver got beat a lot early. Lucky for him the WR’s either dropped it or the pass was overthrown. He, like the rest of the team got better in the second half. But he was once again picked on a lot. My guy T. Brown, QB’s aren’t really looking his way a lot. I think he’s the best so far this year.
You should dock Goldson for the stupid unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that put the Seahawks into field goal range for the first score.
Two different halves. 1st half, they thought they were still playing Giants and were terrible. 2nd half, they looked like the dominant D they were last year. 2nd half hat was the best Justin Smith has played all year. For them to dominate, he has to dominate. The only team capable of beating Giants in playoffs is the Niners. To do that, JS has to play like he did tonight.
Big improvement in special teams. Not spectacular, but very good tonight compared to the last 5 weeks. Smart to have Ginn return both punts and kicks. Ginn makes better decisions and looks totally in control fielding balls.
Anyone notice Clark Haggans got some snaps? Seattle was taking advantage of Aldon Smith’s ranginess by sucking him inside, then popping runs outside, as well as completing a few short passes behind his area. The 49ers put Haggans in, and he plugged up up nicely.
It’s great to see Haggans give Aldon a breather and make some plays to boot.
The Russell Wilson completed a pass with 9:20 left in the 2nd quarter. He did not complete a pass for 37 game minutes. With 1:54 left in the game, Russell Wilson completed a pass for NEGATIVE 2 yards. Russell Wilson completed a 5 yard pass with 1:36 left in the game.
The Seahawks cheated (chop block play at end of game) and Russell Wilson completed a pass for 16 yards. As you know… Harbaugh decided to decline the penalty and give him 16 passing yards.
Taking that penalty would have resulted in the 49er defense allowing 3 yards passing in the final 39 minutes and 20 seconds of the game.
Great defensive effort! Gore pounded the ball with the Bay City Maulers! The special teams came up HUGE!!! We consistantly pinned the Seahawks deep in their territory. Great adjustment by G-Ro and Harbaugh to send the outside recievers deep and checking down to Gore, Hunter, and Walker. Alex just looks scared. He missed a WIDE OPEN Moss in the back of the endzone to throw a pick. Huge mistake taking 3 pts off the board. I think Alex is regressing and last nights game is the way we will need to play in order to win with our QB liability situation.
I think the secondary is graded too high. In the first half there were two TD’s passes dropped by Seattle. They really shut down the Hawks in the 2nd half.
I would give them a B.