Seahawks notebook: Rivalry heats up; Clowney ignites Seattle’s defense
How much fun was that?
OK, OK, so all the fumbles (there were a lot of them) and all the stomach-turning momentum swings (breathe, people, just breathe) and all the missed calls (um, were those Pac-12 refs?) perhaps made this Monday night game more maddening than anyone would have preferred. And for Seahawks fans, a loss in that fashion would certainly have stung.
But you can’t deny this: The Seattle-San Francisco rivalry has been cranked up to 100 once again.
Did you see Richard Sherman there in the fourth quarter, after successfully breaking up Wilson’s third-down pass intended for Metcalf? Sherman sprang to his feet, turned around and stared down the Seahawks sideline, bobbing his head and skipping slowly back to the other side of the field. Sherman knows all about this rivalry, and you know he could feel it boiling back up in the buildup to Monday’s game.
The league’s last undefeated team, the 49ers came out trying to prove once and for all that they are a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
The Seahawks came in needing a victory to, frankly, have any legitimate shot at reclaiming the NFC West crown.
This game meant something within the context of these teams and their postseason aspirations. But you know it meant that much more because of the history of these two teams — and the personalities of those still involved in it.
Clowney up
Where is this Seahawks defense without Jadeveon Clowney?
The star defensive end had his best game for the Seahawks, returning a fumble for a touchdown in the first half and forcing another fumble in the second half that helped set up another Seahawks touchdown.
He added five tackles, one sack and five quarterback hits on Jimmy Garoppolo — helping the Seahawks overcome their three lost fumbles.
Seattle’s defense had just 15 sacks in their first nine games — ranking among the worst pass-rushing teams in the NFL — and they had five on Monday night to overcome a brutally bad first quarter (in which SF outgained the Seahawks 118-5 in total yards and built a 10-0 lead).
Clowney will be a free agent after this season — remember, when the Seahawks traded for him late in the summer they agreed not to place the franchise tag on him. And his performance Monday night showed he could command top dollar on the free-agent market. This is a question for down the road, sure, but still worth asking how: Can the Seahawks afford to let him go?
Lockett hospitalized
Seahawks receiver Tyler Lockett left the game with a lower left leg contusion that was severe enough to require an immediate trip to the hospital here, coach Pete Carroll said.
In the final seconds of regulation, Lockett received a kickoff and took a knee, sending the game into overtime. But he did not take the field in overtime and was instead taken to the hospital because of swelling, Carroll said, adding that there was concern of possible compartment syndrome in the leg.
It’s possible Lockett could stay the night at the hospital, but Carroll didn’t have an exact update immediately after the Seahawks’ 27-24 overtime victory.
“Tyler Lockett got a really bad lower leg bruise, a contusion that caused some issue that we’re working on,” Carroll said.
“I can’t tell you much more about it right now. He’s out of here right now to get looked at.
“It’ll be OK, but it’s a pretty severe situation for right now. … We’re ahead of it, so we should be in good shape.”