The return of running back Marshawn Lynch helped create an electric atmosphere at CenturyLink Field on Sunday night, which exploded after his third quarter touchdown run, but the Seattle Seahawks fell just short in a tough 26-21 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
The Seahawks finish the regular season with an 11-5 record and will get the No. 5 seed in the playoffs, traveling to face the Eagles in Philadelphia next week.
Seattle came out very flat in the first half, getting outscored 13-0 and outgained 222-79. The defense was unable to stop Jimmy Garoppolo, and the return of George Kittle provided a huge boost to San Francisco’s offensive attack.
However, the Seahawks offense came alive in the third quarter. After an apparent touchdown pass to David Moore was nullified by a holding penalty, Russell Wilson instead found Tyler Lockett for a 14-yard touchdown to bring Seattle within six with 5:46 left in the third quarter.
San Francisco responded quickly however, with a 49-yard reception to fullback Kyle Juszczyk that led to a touchdown run by Raheem Mostert.
After that, the two teams seemed to trade off touchdowns on nearly every ensuing drive, with the one-yard touchdown run from Lynch representing perhaps the most exciting touchdown of the season for the Seattle faithful.
Ultimately, things came down to the final drive of the game, where Wilson was able to march Seattle all the way to the one-yard line before a costly delay of game penalty backed the Seahawks up to the six, and a five-yard pass to tight end Jacob Hollister fell just short of the end zone, giving San Francisco the narrowest of victories in the Emerald City.
Seattle will need to have a short memory to flush this game and focus on another away date with the Eagles, a team they defeated 17-9 in late November.
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