Feast Mode
- Updated: November 28, 2014
Richard Sherman and Russell Wilson feasted on Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers all night. Fittingly, after the Seahawks’ 19-3 beatdown on San Francisco, the Seattle stars celebrated Thanksgiving with another feast on the 49ers logo at Levi’s Stadium.
Literally.
After the postgame interview with NBC’s Michele Tafoya, pictured above, Sherman carried one of the roasted turkeys into the Seahawks’ locker room to share it with a deserving Seattle squad.
“That turkey was good,” Wilson said in his postgame press conference.
Sherman’s two interceptions Thursday evening only punctuated a dominating performance by the Super Bowl champions in Santa Clara, California.
Kaepernick managed to complete just 16 of his 29 pass attempts for a mere 121 yards, throwing no touchdowns and the two — nearly three — picks to Sherman. But the Niners couldn’t get anything rolling on the ground, either; tailbacks Frank Gore and Carlos Hyde combined for just 47 rushing yards against the suffocating Hawks, and Kaepernick added 17.
“We didn’t do anything special,” Sherman said in his press conference. “We didn’t run any exotic blitzes, we didn’t run any crazy coverages or disguises. We stood up, man up, stand up — and we beat ‘em.”
“Our team was dedicated, focused and really locked in,” he added.
Sherman set up the only touchdown with another key defensive play in this heated rivalry, then made a second interception with the 49ers driving late, and the Seahawks ended a five-game losing streak on San Francisco’s home field with a 19-3 win Thursday night.
“The second one was pretty entertaining. I was laughing the whole time,” Sherman said. “They threw it. I said, ‘Way to be, way to be.'”
The brash cornerback offered plenty without opening his mouth, too: blowing kisses to the crowd, then putting a finger to his lips to make the hush sign before waving goodbye.
Steven Hauschka kicked four field goals and the Seahawks’ stout defense held Colin Kaepernick and Michael Crabtree in check as Seattle (8-4) overcame 14 penalties for 105 yards, including an offensive pass interference that negated a touchdown.
Russell Wilson passed for 236 yards and thoroughly outplayed Kaepernick, who had one of his worst performances for the 49ers (7-5) in a game with high stakes for the teams’ playoff hopes. And they play again in 17 days.
“My team’s all together, we are buddies. It’s a hard thing to do, winning on their turf,” Wilson said. “The NFC is not easy to win against. We are excited about that opportunity.”
After his second pick, Sherman looked at those fans still remaining in half-empty stadium on a Thanksgiving night and waved. The Seahawks won by the identical score they beat first-place Arizona five days earlier.
Kaepernick was 16 for 29 for 121 yards, and the 49ers were outgained 379-164.
Sherman and Crabtree were at the center of the decisive play in January’s NFC title game, when Sherman deflected a pass headed his way in the end zone and Malcolm Smith intercepted it with less than a minute remaining to seal the Seahawks’ 23-17 victory. Sherman later called Crabtree “mediocre.”
San Francisco’s offense might have earned that distinction after its latest dud snapped the Niners’ three-game winning streak.
When the word mediocre came up, Sherman said that distinction went to “their fans” for vulgar name-calling throughout the game.
“You never have to resort to name-calling,” said Sherman, who said a bottle was thrown as the Seahawks exited.
Asked about Crabtree on Thursday, Sherman smiled and quipped: “History? What history?”
“He said he was throwing to the open man. He didn’t care who was out there,” Sherman said about Kaepernick. “I was the open man.”
The 49ers were held to three points or fewer for the first time since a 29-3 Week 2 loss at Seattle last year.
“We only had three points. We have to start early and we have to play,” Crabtree said. “That’s all we have to talk about.”
Seattle sure looked comfortable in its first trip to new $1.3 billion Levi’s Stadium. It helped that the Seahawks quieted a relatively subdued home crowd.
Sherman got things started when he intercepted Kaepernick’s deep third-down pass on the right sideline in the first quarter to help set up Wilson’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Robert Turbin.
A wide-open Turbin easily took the ball down the left sideline on a pretty catch-and-run before beating cornerback Chris Culliver into the end zone.
Hauschka kicked field goals of 21, 36, 35 and 46 yards.
Phil Dawson provided San Francisco’s lone points on a 40-yard field goal late in the third.
Sherman had the fourth two-interception game of his career with his 22nd and 23rd picks since 2011, most in the NFL. It was 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh who turned him into a defensive back at Stanford.
Sherman nearly had another late in the first half, when Seattle outgained San Francisco 202-71. The 49ers were held to 23 yards rushing and shut out in the first half for the first time this season.
“We’ve got to reboot, come back and win them all,” Harbaugh said.
In a lighthearted moment before kickoff, Harbaugh’s black hat blew off during the national anthem and landed on the lowest white stripe of a flag that covered the entire field. A San Francisco staffer quickly retrieved the cap just in time as the flag was being rolled up.