49ers vs. Seahawks: Position grades from San Francisco’s blowout loss

The Seattle Seahawks jumped out to an early lead and turned it into a 43-16 blowout victory over the visiting San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. Niner Noise has your full position grades and analysis from the Niners’ Week 13 loss to their NFC West rival.

It was smooth sailing for the Seattle Seahawks in Week 13, as they defeated the San Francisco 49ers with ease in the teams’ first showdown of 2018. The Seahawks’ rushing attack — and three turnovers by the Niners — carried Seattle to victory and put the team a step closer to a potential playoff berth.

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was only forced to throw the ball 17 times, but tallied four touchdowns over his 11 completed passes. 49ers quarterback Nick Mullens totaled 48 pass attempts for a career-high 414 passing yards, but a lack of an effective rushing attack and constant pressure on third-and-long situations killed drives and limited San Francisco to just 16 points on the day.

The 49ers’ defense was unable to pressure Wilson with their front four pass rushers — which has been a common theme for the team over the course of the 2018 season — but the Niners’ defensive line played particularly poor against Seattle’s run game in Sunday’s contest.

On offense, rookie running back Jeff Wilson out-snapped starting RB Matt Breida, but was more productive in the passing game than the running game. The star of the show on offense for the 49ers was rookie wide receiver Dante Pettis, who scored both of San Francisco’s touchdowns, including this 75-yard catch-and-run which left the members of Seattle’s secondary in his dust:

Despite falling behind, the 49ers continued to fight throughout the afternoon, until Mullens’ goal-line pass attepmpt was intercepted by Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner — and then returned for a 98-yard touchdown — in the closing minutes of the game.

For a summary of Sunday’s matchup, check out Niner Noise’s 49ers Week 13 game recap, which includes highlights, scores and analysis from San Francisco’s 43-16 loss to the Seahawks.

Each week, Niner Noise breaks down and grades the performance of each of the 49ers’ position groups. Let’s start with the San Francisco 49ers’ offense: