Hawks take another dive

SEATTLE – The Seattle Seahawks still might win the NFC West, but they won’t feel like they have complete command of the division.

The Seahawks were knocked off for the second time in a month by upstart San Francisco, frittering away three quarters of dominating everything but the scoreboard before the 49ers struck for three long scoring drives to fuel a 24-14 victory Thursday night in front of an announced crowd of 67,650 at Qwest Field.

Seattle was stymied for the second straight week by a divisional foe as it tried to wrap up its third consecutive NFC West title. The Seahawks lost to Arizona, 3-9 at the time, last Sunday. The Seahawks slipped to 8-6 and have nine days to prepare for a visit from San Diego (11-2), which owns the NFL’s best record.

Last season Seattle went 6-0 against NFC West rivals en route to a 13-3 regular season. This season, Seattle is 3-3 against the NFC West, which might be the weakest division in the league.

“It was a very disappointing evening,” Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. “We realized what was at stake. We didn’t play very well. We’re not playing very well.

“All in all, we’re struggling. We have two weeks to try and straighten it out. If we don’t get a little better than we’ve played the last couple weeks, then it’s going to be rough.”

Seattle had the upper hand in the first half, but came away with only one touchdown on four possessions that concluded in 49ers territory. That touchdown was draped in good fortune as Seattle, starting at San Francisco’s 44, was lucky to recover a Shaun Alexander fumble inside the 5-yard line. Two 49ers had a chance to fall on the ball, but it ended up in receiver Nate Burleson’s hands at the 3.

Alexander scored on the next play to give Seattle a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter.

San Francisco (6-8) didn’t have a first down on its first six possessions. Frank Gore, who ran for a franchise-record 212 yards in a 20-14 win over Seattle last month, finally converted on a third-and-1 to give San Francisco its initial first down.

Three plays later, the 49ers faced fourth-and-5. Upback Michael Robinson ran for 33 yards on a well-executed fake punt, leading to Joe Nedney’s 39-yard field goal and a 7-3 halftime score – despite Seattle holding decided advantages in nearly every statistical category.

That trend continued in the third quarter. Seattle quickly marched to San Francisco’s 20, but safety Mark Roman intercepted a poorly thrown pass by Matt Hasselbeck in the end zone.

“If I had to say one thing about how we’re playing it’s that we’re just OK at everything,” Hasselbeck said, “but we’re not dominating at anything like we used to be.”

The 49ers offense remained stuck in neutral, but Seattle couldn’t capitalize as another promising series reached the San Francisco 47 before retreating backward.

San Francisco’s offense awoke when Alex Smith hit Arnaz Battle for 53 yards on the final play of the third quarter. The drive ended with a Smith-to-Vernon Davis touchdown pass and Seattle suddenly trailed 10-7.

Seattle appeared primed to tie it or reclaim the lead when it had the ball at San Francisco’s 36. Two plays netted 9 yards, but Alexander was stuffed for no gain on third down and Mack Strong was stopped short on fourth.

“We have a lot of work to do,” said Alexander, who finished with 73 yards on 23 carries.

Gore, held in check most of the way, started to break loose with regularity. On third down at Seattle’s 20, blitzing cornerback Kelly Herndon missed a wide-open shot at Smith, who scrambled to his left and flipped a 20-yard scoring pass to Gore, sparking a smattering of boos from the crowd.

Smith tacked on an 18-yard TD run to put San Francisco on top 24-7 with 1:42 left.

Seattle had been 2-0 in foul-weather home games. Seattle topped Oakland 16-0 in a rainstorm in early November and three weeks ago the Seahawks turned back Green Bay 34-24 with snow covering the field in the first half.

In this one, the goal posts shook most of the night from persistent winds and rain came down in sheets so thick prior to kickoff that one couldn’t see fans seated on the opposite side of Qwest Field. But it was San Francisco that eventually soaked up the atmosphere.

“There are high expectations here and I expect to play at a certain level,” Holmgren said. “And when we don’t, I’m disappointed.”

49ers 24, Seahawks 14

Sea—Alexander 3 run (Brown kick).

SF—FG Nedney 39.

SF—V.Davis 8 pass from A.Smith (Nedney kick).

SF—Gore 20 pass from A.Smith (Nedney kick).

SF—A.Smith 18 run (Nedney kick).

Sea—Stevens 22 pass from Hasselbeck (Brown kick).

A—67,650.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—San Francisco, Gore 29-144, A.Smith 6-33, Robinson 1-33, Battle 1-18, Hicks 1-0. Seattle, Alexander 23-73, Morris 2-14, Hasselbeck 1-3, Strong 1-0.

PASSING—San Francisco, A.Smith 14-25-0-162. Seattle, Hasselbeck 20-37-2-220.

RECEIVING—San Francisco, Battle 5-97, Gore 4-34, V.Davis 3-15, Bryant 2-16. Seattle, Hackett 8-87, Stevens 5-64, Branch 4-54, Burleson 2-12, Strong 1-3.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.