Seahawks crush 49ers behind three Lynch TDs
SEATTLE -- The Seattle Seahawks earned a surprisingly easy win over the San Francisco 49ers in an early-season battle for supremacy in the NFC West, taking a 29-3 decision Sunday in a game delayed an hour by lightning.
The stoppage came in the first quarter with the game scoreless.
Seattle (2-0) dominated upon the resumption, using three second-half touchdowns by Marshawn Lynch to win going away.
It was the 49ers' second consecutive blowout loss in Seattle, as they fell 42-13 last December.
"We have a chance to do something great," said Seattle safety Earl Thomas, who made one of the Seahawks' three interceptions. "That's what it says."
San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh said, "I'm certainly not proud of the way that we played tonight, or coached. It was not our finest hour."
The 49ers (1-1) will hope to atone for the defeat when the teams will play again Dec. 8 at Candlestick Park.
Seattle led 5-0 at halftime, then went on identical 10-play, 80-yard drives the first two times it had the ball in the second half to take control.
The key was the Seahawks' defense, which limited San Francisco to 207 total yards.
"We did everything we wanted to tonight on defense," Seattle coach Pete Carroll said.
Lynch scored on a 14-yard run to cap the Seahawks' first second-half drive, then scored on a 7-yard pass from Russell Wilson to cap the second march.
The scoring pass was part of a second-half turnaround for Seattle's second-year quarterback, who was just 2-for-10 in the first half.
Wilson went 4-for-5 for 80 yards in the third quarter as the Seahawks finally took the upper hand, and he finished 8-for-19 for 142 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Lynch, meanwhile, gained 98 yards on 28 carries as Seattle outgained the 49ers 290-207.
"They got off some key runs that put them in critical situations, third-and-short, that they converted," San Francisco cornerback Carlos Rogers said.
With a record CenturyLink Field crowd of 68,338 going crazy throughout, despite the delay, the 49ers' offense could never get on track Quarterback Colin Kaepernick completed 13 of 28 passes for 127 yards with three interceptions. He also ran nine times for 87 yards.
Before the delay, which came with 3:13 left in the first quarter, each quarterback threw an interception. The teams were sent to the locker room at 6:05 p.m. PDT, and the game resumed at 7:05 p.m.
When it did, Seattle got its running game going enough to force some bad field position for the 49ers, which resulted in the first score of the game -- a safety when holding was called in the end zone on San Francisco fullback Bruce Miller.
That made it 2-0 with 10:44 to go in the half.
Seattle added a 30-yard field goal by Steven Hauschka with 5:56 to go in the half after the Seahawks recovered a Kaepernick fumble.
After Lynch's first touchdown pushed the advantage to 12-0, the 49ers mounted their only scoring drive. San Francisco went 71 yards in nine plays, setting up a 21-yard field goal from Phil Dawson.
The Seahawks outscored the 49ers 17-0 in the fourth quarter to end all suspense.
The win left Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman spending much of his postgame press conference taking shots at critics who doubted the team, saying, "There was a lot said this week that we didn't appreciate."
The 49ers, meanwhile, said they were confident they could rebound.
"We've just got to keep going," Rogers said. "Of course we will see them again. We've just got to handle business."
NOTES: Seattle played without CB Brandon Browner, who hurt his hamstring Sept. 4. The Seahawks had hoped Browner would be able to recover in time to play, but he was unable to practice during the week. ... The Seahawks re-signed DT Clinton McDonald on Saturday, and he saw significant action as a backup. McDonald played the 2011 and 2012 seasons with Seattle before being released in the cutdown to 53 players. ... San Francisco's inactives included WR/TE Chris Harper, a fourth-round pick by Seattle whom the Seahawks cut before the season and was then signed by the 49ers. ... Seattle's inactives included DE Chris Clemons, who tore his ACL in the playoff win over the Washington Redskins last January. Clemons practiced fully for the first time this week, but the team decided to let him wait another week before returning to game action.
