The Seahawks didn’t get the help they needed Sunday.
But, after what was mostly a really long slog of an afternoon in Glendale, Arizona, they did at least get a win to calm some worries heading into the postseason.
Trailing by 10 early in the fourth quarter and with the offense looking lifeless, Seattle mounted two long drives to pull out a 26-23 win over the 49ers.
The day’s results — a Seattle win and but also wins by the Saints and Packers — means the Seahawks will be the No. 3 seed in the NFC and host the Los Angeles Rams either next Saturday or Sunday at Lumen Field in the wild-card round. Date and time had not been set as of the end of the afternoon games.
The winning points came on a 4-yard pass from Russell Wilson to Tyler Lockett on fourth-and-goal with 2:20 left, which was Lockett’s 100th team-record reception of the season.
On the next drive, Benson Mayowa forced a fumble of C.J. Beathard recovered by Rasheem Green and the win — the 12th, which has been bettered only twice in team history — was secure. Alex Collins then added an 8-yard TD with 1:49 left to cap another Pete Carroll-era trademark fourth quarter resurrection. The 49ers added an inconsequential touchdown before the game ended.
The Seahawks led 6-3 at halftime, during which they also did a lot of scoreboard watching, hoping maybe the Panthers could beat the Saints or the Bears handle the Packers.
But with those games not going Seattle’s way, the 49ers also began to take some control in the second and third quarters.
The 49ers tied the game on their first possession of the second half on a field goal by Tristan Vizcaino, who played at UW in college and was signed to the 49ers’ practice squad Friday and elevated Saturday.
Seattle then went three and out and a rare poor Michael Dickson punt helped set up the 49ers at the Seahawks 49. A 41-yard pass to George Kittle took the ball to the Seattle 8. But on second down, Beathard missed a wide-open Kittle in the end zone and was then sacked. That led to a 33-yard Vizcaino field goal that put San Francisco ahead 9-6 with 6:19 left in third quarter, the 49ers’ first lead of the game.
Seattle went three and out again on its next drive — the Seahawks had just three yards on six plays in the third quarter.
The 49ers then went 73 yards in 11 plays capped by a 7-yard run by Jeff Wilson to make it 16-6 with 14:22 left in the game and it appeared on course to be a totally dreary afternoon for the Seahawks.
That was the 49ers’ fourth straight possession with a score, and at that point, the 49ers had outgained Seattle 240-109 for the game, holding the Seahawks to 2.9 yards per play, and 145-3 in the second half.
The Seahawks finally got their offense going, mostly due to the legs and arms of Wilson, who was 5 for 6 for 50 yards to key a 75-yard drive in which the 49ers were also flagged for a personal foul.
Wilson capped the drive when he scrambled on third down and found Lockett open for a 6-yard score with 10:54 left. However, Jason Myers missed the extra point, which kept the score at 16-12.
But the Seahawks finally got a stop on the next drive — though doing so as Jamal Adams left with a shoulder injury — and got the ball back at their own 15 with 7:46 left.
Passes of 12 to Metcalf and nine to Lockett and an 11-yard Wilson run got Seattle into 49ers territory.
Another Wilson run of 16 then got Seattle close.
Still, from the 4, two straight incompletions set up fourth down. Wilson rolled to his right then lofted a pass far to the left to Lockett, who made a juggling catch as he got two feet down — his 12th of the game.
Seattle had 167 yards on its first three drives of the fourth quarter.
But for most of the day, Seattle’s offense knew only frustration other than two first-half drives for field goals.
Seattle led 3-0 at the end of the first quarter, then got its second score of the game in the second quarter to cap a drive in which both DK Metcalf and Lockett entered the Seahawks record book.
First, Metcalf set the franchise record for receiving yards in a season with a 4-yard grab early in the second quarter, flinging the ball to the sideline for safekeeping as he got off the turf. That broke the mark of 1,287 set by Steve Largent in 1987.
Lockett, who came into the game with 88 receptions, then set the record for receptions in a season later in the series with his 95th, breaking a mark shared by Bobby Engram (2007) and Doug Baldwin (2016).
Lockett also went over 1,000 yards receiving on the drive, making it only the second time in team history Seattle has had two receivers go over the 1,000 yard mark in the same season (Brian Blades and Joey Galloway did it in 1995).
However, the drive ended in some disappointment as Seattle could not get into the end zone and had to settle for another Jason Myers field goal, this one of 30 yards with 9:27 to play in the second quarter.
That put Seattle up 6-0.
But from there it was all 49ers until the sudden rebirth in the fourth quarter that pulled the game out for Seattle.
The 49ers then put together their only drive of the half to get to Seattle’s 16, the key play a 45 yard pass from Beathard to Richie James on a third-and-14.
But the drive stalled there and the 49ers had to settle for a 36-yard field goal by Vizcaino.
Seattle had just 106 yards on 32 plays in the first half, but fortunately had held the 49ers to 95 yards on 24 plays.
In particular, Seattle had trouble getting the running game going early as Carson had just 10 yards on six carries in the first half and the Seahawks just 27 on 11 overall.
The Seahawks led 3-0 after a first quarter largely dominated by defense.
Seattle’s allowed just one first down and 29 yards overall, not allowing the 49ers past their own 34 on three possessions.
Seattle’s offense was sluggish on its first two drives, but a 29-yard pass from Wilson to Chris Carson on the third series helped set up a 36-yard field goal by Jason Myers.
But Seattle hoped for more after reaching the 17. Instead, a third-down drop by Metcalf helped force the field goal.
