49ers Trampled by Rawls' historic day

Week 11 - Entering Sunday's road game versus division rival Seattle, the 49ers were more than happy to hear that they wouldn't have to contain Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch as he was sidelined with an abdominal injury. But instead, they would receive a rude awakening. Despite being without their Pro Bowl running back in Lynch who's made a habit out of torturing the 49ers, the Seahawks did just fine on the ground on Sunday. In fact, they would do better as rookie Thomas Rawls had a historic day by rushing for a career-high 209 yards and adding another 46 yards receiving just hours after learning he would get the start. Rawls' outburst on the ground was second to only Shaun Alexander's 266 yard performance in 2001 for the best in franchise history as the undrafted rookie became only the third Sehawk to ever rush for 200 yards in a game, something Marshawn Lynch has never accomplished in his NFL career. It would also mark the first time the 49ers have ever allowed a 200-yard rusher in the history of their franchise.

Though Rawls led the way with 255 total yards and a pair of touchdowns, he wasn't the only rookie making plays as the 49er defense had a hard time figuring out Seattle's receiver and third round draft pick Tyler Lockett who caught two of Russell Wilson's three touchdown passes. For the second consecutive week, the game began with Blaine Gabbert as the 49ers starting quarterback. And before you knew it, San Francisco was starring down a 20-0 hole before the Niners finally made it onto the scoreboard. Considering the game was at Seattle's CenturyLink Field where the 49ers offense has often came up missing over the past several years, Gabbert had himself a pretty decent game throwing for a game-high 264 yards, four more than Wilson who had a near perfect day, completing 24 of his 29 pass attempts. However, Gabbert was unable to match Wilson in the touchdown department as he marched his team down the field several times but was only able to capitalize with one touchdown as he found 49ers tight-end Vance McDonald 19-yards out for a touchdown. It would be McDonald's first touchdown of his career and the only one on the day for San Francisco.

Unlike Colin Kaepernick who couldn't seem to avoid the turnovers when playing in Seattle, Gabbert logged a clean sheet as the 49ers managed to play a turnover-free ballgame. But that wouldn't matter as the San Francisco defense missed a plethora of tackles and made it far too easy for Seattle's offense to run up and down the field, eventually pulling off the 29-13 win as the 49ers once again fell flat coming out of a BYE week to fall to 3-7 on the year. Meanwhile, Seattle improved to .500 on the season at 5-5. 49ers receiver Anquan Boldin who was questionable to play prior to kickoff, managed to tough it out and finished the game with 5 receptions and 93 yards after missing the previous two games while nursing a hamstring injury. Ineffective once again, the Niners run game mustered only 59 yards as the team continues to miss their second-year running back Carlos Hyde who hasn't played since Week 7 when the 49ers hosted Seattle on Thursday Night Football.

Week 12 Preview - Heading back home to Levi's Stadium in Week 12, the 49ers will get set to host the (8-2) Arizona Cardinals who are in commanding lead of first place in the NFC Western Division and are currently riding a 4-game winning-streak after back-to-back Sunday Night wins against Seattle and Cincinnati. Having scored a league-high 40 touchdowns this season, the Cardinals offense will serve a formidable challenge for San Francisco who on the other hand has scored a league-low 13 touchdowns this year. And after the 47-7 beating the Cards served up on the Niners in Week 3, there's no better way for Jim Tomsula's team to repay Arizona than sending them back to the desert with an upset loss as San Francisco still seeks their first division win of 2015. Easier said than done, however, as the Cardinals lead the league with an average of 417 yards per game this season, an area that has been much improved over the past few weeks with Arizona recently finding its identity in the run game, coupled with QB Carson Palmer's stellar play.


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