4 biggest bone-headed plays from 49ers loss to Seahawks

The 49ers beat themselves just as much as they lost to the Seahawks in Week 13, and these four plays epitomize why things went sour in Seattle.

The San Francisco 49ers had multiple chances to pull off what would have been a crucial Week 13 road win over the scuffling Seattle Seahawks, who are looking at the hard reality of the first losing season in quarterback Russell Wilson‘s career.

Entering the game at 6-5, the Niners could have further solidified their hold on a playoff berth while also effectively “ending” Seattle’s 2021 campaign.

Instead, it was San Francisco who ended up making the most mistakes in the 30-23 loss at Lumen Field in Seattle despite both teams committing plenty of mistakes over the course of 60 minutes.

There are a number of specific plays that stand out, particularly backup kick returner Travis Benjamin fumbling a kickoff the Hawks were able to recover. Fortunately, that didn’t come back to haunt the 49ers totally, as nickel cornerback K’Waun Williams was able to intercept a bobbled pass off the hands of Hawks tight end Gerald Everett.

Yet that led to the first of a number of ugly Niners plays that ultimately played a role in the Week 13 defeat.

Let’s take a look at those, starting with what happened after the Williams interception.

No. 4: Jimmy Garoppolo, 49ers take an ugly safety in the third quarter

As far as the momentum was concerned, Seattle all but dominated it in the second half and looked like the swarming defense San Francisco fans knew all too well years ago.

The 49ers were going to be backed up against their own goal line after the Williams interception, and two consecutive run plays didn’t exactly net a lot of comfort room.

Leading to quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo taking a sack in the end zone by Seahawks defensive tackle Carlos Dunlap for a two-point safety:

Garoppolo didn’t have a good game, and we’ll get to that in a bit. But the sack-safety was a net result of backup right tackle Tom Compton being absolutely abused by Dunlap. If you watch the play again, Dunlap knocks Compton down as if he was a Jenga statue.

Not a good look for Compton, and it led to two Hawks points and a complete taking over of the momentum in the second half.