By The Associated Press
and Peninsula Daily News
Photos from the Seahawks 29-3 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night at CenturyLink Field: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151582599836722.1073741866.84249551721&type=1
SEATTLE (AP) —
Richard Sherman and his teammates took notice of all the attention being focused on San Francisco after the 49ers looked so impressive in Week 1.
The Seattle Seahawks were determined to strike the first blow in the NFC West fight.
“We did what we expected to do,” Sherman said. “I think you guys expected something different.”
Sherman and the Seahawks were left celebrating after another convincing victory over the 49ers, this time a 29-3 rout on Sunday night.
It was an addendum to the 42-13 blowout the Seahawks served on San Francisco last December, but this victory means more.
Seattle now has the advantage going forward in a division race no one expects to be decided until December.
Marshawn Lynch ran for two touchdowns and caught another, making up for a night when Russell Wilson was not his best.
Seattle’s defense flustered San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick into his worst performance as a starter, throwing three interceptions to match his entire regular season total from 2012.
“We have a chance to do something great,” Seattle safety Earl Thomas said.
“That’s all it says. The craziest thing about it, we stay humble and keep preparing like we do, not listening to what’s going on TV, we’ll be fine.”
Here are five things to know about the Seahawks second straight convincing home win over the 49ers:
1. SEATTLE MADE BETTER ADJUSTMENTS: When a weather delay forced the teams into the locker room it came after Seattle had a punt blocked, Wilson had been intercepted and the Seahawks had a total of 27 yards of offense.
The hour delay allowed the Seahawks to make adjustments to get more production out of the run game, which became especially important with Wilson struggling.
Defensively, Seattle was stout after the delay. The Seahawks allowed just 147 yards of offense to the 49ers over the final 48 minutes and 13 seconds.
“We coached throughout the time, other than when the music was blaring,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said.
2. BEAST MODE CAN’T BE STOPPED: Coming out of its opener, Seattle’s lack of a run game was a major concern, especially going up against a San Francisco defense known for being stout at stopping the ground game.
But Lynch has figured out how to run against the 49ers.
He came in with three straight 100-yard rushing games against the 49ers and if not for a few negative yardage runs would have topped 100 yards yet again, finishing just two yards shy of the century mark on Sunday.
“They tried every which way to box him in tonight, and they made it tough on him, but he took advantage of the opportunities he was given,” Seattle wide receiver Doug Baldwin said.
3. KAEPERNICK CAN BE CONTAINED: Kaepernick ended up being San Francisco’s leading rusher with 87 yards on nine carries.
That’s good. What’s not good for the 49ers was Frank Gore being held to 16 yards rushing on nine carries, or the 49ers’ trio of running backs that carried the ball combining for 13 total yards rushing.
With no run game, Seattle was able to use its linebackers to spy on Kaepernick and limit his running options outside the pocket. He was also forced to throw more having to play from behind.
“We just didn’t execute, across the board,” said 49ers receiver Anquan Boldin, who had one catch Sunday after having 13 last week. “We just didn’t do what we are supposed to.”
4. 49ERS’ INJURIES ARE A CONCERN: San Francisco came to Seattle healthy and left potentially looking at some key injuries.
Nose tackle Ian Williams may have a broken ankle and could miss significant time.
Rookie safety Eric Reid was down on the field for nearly five minutes, suffered a concussion and couldn’t remember the play he was injured on.
Vernon Davis might have suffered a pulled hamstring.
5. SEATTLE IS REALLY LOUD: A fan group attempting to set a Guinness World Records mark for loudest stadium says it has established a record during Sunday’s game between the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers.
The group, called Volume 12, announced on its Facebook page it had set the mark late in the first quarter. The decibel reading taken during a sack of Kaepernick was 131.9 decibels.
The group said the record was broken later in the game and registered at 136.6 decibels.
The previous record for “loudest crowd roar at a sports stadium,” was 131.76 decibels, set in 2011 in Turkey at the Ali Sami Yen Sport Complex Turk Telekom Arena during a soccer match between Galatasaray SC and Fenerbahce.
“It’s loud. It’s hard for the offense to communicate,” 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said.
