Seattle Seahawks: 3 Big takeaways from win vs. 49ers in Week 13

The defense still needs work

While the Seahawks defense has improved a lot from last season, the defenders showed just how young and inexperienced they were against the 49ers. Nick Mullens, the 49ers third starting quarterback this season, threw for 414 yards completing 30 of 48 passes. 414 yards is a bad number to give up on any day, but conceding it against a quarterback who wasn’t even expected to play at all at the beginning of the season is concerning.

To be fair, the 49ers run game struggled all day and the team averaged a measly 2.9 yards per rush. It seems like the Seahawks can’t get their run and pass defenses to play well on the same day. If Seattle does make the playoffs, the whole defense will need to show up. It can’t just be the defensive front carrying one game and then secondary picking doing it the next. But that level of consistency will come with experience.

The emergence of Frank Clark and Jarran Reed as a duo along the defensive line has been special to watch. Clark has already produced several good years in the NFL, but Reed is having a breakout year in his third season out of Alabama. Of course, Bobby Wagner is still incredible, as his long pick-six on Sunday showed.

The rest of the defense is working well together most games, but there’s a lack of star power in the secondary. That’s the hole left by an injured Earl Thomas, who had three interceptions in just a few games earlier this year. That’s the area the Seahawks should work on building and developing this offseason.