Seahawks studs and duds: DK Metcalf performance not enough in Wild Card Round
By Randy Gurzi
DK Metcalf had two touchdowns but the Seattle Seahawks still lost to the 49ers. Here is who stood out as studs and duds in the Wild Card Round defeat.
The Seattle Seahawks were up 17-16 at the half but were outscored 25-6 in the final 30 minutes. The 41-23 loss to the San Francisco 49ers was a frustrating way for them to end the season but they still were better than expected and have a chance to improve thanks to their draft capital in the offseason.
Before worrying about what they do next, we take some time to look at who stood out as both studs and duds in their Wild Card Round loss.
Seahawks studs and duds in Wild Card Round
Stud: Bruce Irvin, LB
The 49ers were up 10-7 and moving the ball well until Bruce Irvin stepped up and made a huge play. On second-and-nine from the Seattle 12, Irvin was able to shake off Trent Williams and when Brock Purdy tried to scramble to his left, Irvin sacked him for an eight-yard loss.
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San Francisco ran on the ensuing play and while Irvin didn’t make that tackle, he was there to slow Christian McCaffrey down and allow the secondary to come up and make the play. That held them to a field goal and the lead was just six — and was gone five plays later when DK Metcalf scored on a 50-yard touchdown.
Irvin spent five seasons with Seattle to being his career and is now back at age 35 to serve as a mentor to the younger defenders on the team. However, he was more than that on Saturday as he made the plays when he needed to.
Dud: Charles Cross, OT
Overall, Charles Cross played well. It’s never easy to play offensive tackle on the road but it becomes more difficult when it’s in the postseason and Nick Bosa is often lining up across from that lineman. Throw in the fact that Cross is a rookie and it was a tough ask.
Still, he was exposed on the Seahawks’ first drive of the second half when he has guilty of a false start that set up a third-and-12. DK Metcalf kept the drive going with a huge reception to move the chains but Cross was then beaten by Bosa as Geno Smith was sacked and lost the ball.
Charles Omenihu was credited with the sack but Bosa was in there as well, and he recovered the ball. Even worse for Cross was that he was in a position to recover the ball and save three points but he never saw that it was on the ground.
Cross continued to struggle as he was hit with another false start on the following drive. Once he got inside his own head, things started to fall apart.