Twenty-one of the San Francisco 49ers’ 32 points against the Seahawks on Sunday came directly after Seattle turnovers, a brutal blow in the 32-29 loss that mirrors a problem from earlier in the season. For the second time in three games, giving opponents easy points over and over again led to a loss, and honestly, it is frustrating to watch.
Ball Security? What’s That?
The turnover problem is a full-blown nightmare right now, especially in the running back room. We’re talking a fumbling epidemic, people! Jadarian Price, even before hitting injured reserve, fumbled twice in three games. Emanuel Wilson? Two fumbles. George Holani? You guessed it, two fumbles. That’s *six* fumbles from our running backs this season alone! There isn’t much to say other than you gotta expect ball security to be priority number one for Brian Fleury and the coaching staff moving forward. You just cannot win in the NFL, especially against a division rival like the 49ers, when you’re gifting them touchdowns. Remember Week 3 against the Commanders? Same story, easy points for the opponent after our mistakes, and another loss. It feels like we’re not learning our lesson. And while our backs are fumbling away possessions, Velus Jones, with his blazing 4.31 speed that could spark *anything* on offense, has seen a measly two offensive snaps all season. Two! What are we even doing?
Rookie Roles and Repeating History
This 3-2 start feels eerily familiar, doesn’t it? For the third season straight, our Hawks are sitting at 3-2 after five games. The question is, which history are we going to repeat? In 2024, we followed up a 3-2 start by going 1-3 over the next four games. But in 2025, we rattled off four straight wins. Which path are we on this year? Adding to the mystery is Head Coach Mike Macdonald’s Week 5 curse, as we’re now 0-3 in Week 5 under him, with losses to the Giants, Buccaneers, and now the 49ers in that stretch.
On the offensive line, there’s a quiet battle brewing at right guard between 2024 third-round pick Christian Haynes and 2026 fifth-round pick Beau Stephens. The rotation continued against the 49ers with a 52/48 split. What’s interesting is Stephens’ snap percentage has been slowly, but steadily, climbing: 39% in Week 2, 40% in Week 3, 42% in Week 4, and now 48% in Week 5. It’s a small change, sure, and could just be random game flow, but it’s definitely something to watch in Week 6. Will Stephens finally pass Haynes for playing time? Elsewhere on offense, our 2025 draft class receivers and tight ends, Tory Horton and Elijah Arroyo, are lagging big time, combining for a paltry 31 offensive snaps and only a single target. Outside additions are clearly getting the nod over them.
Defensively, we saw Ty Okada get his first action of the season with 56 snaps. Meanwhile, Rodney Thomas was basically relegated to special teams duty after playing all but two defensive snaps over the first four weeks. Even some of our bigger name free agent acquisitions, Dante Fowler and Trevon Diggs, are barely seeing the field, playing just nine and eight snaps respectively. And our 2024 fifth-round secondary pick, Nehemiah Pritchett, had his lowest defensive snap count all year with just four, while playing his highest percentage of special teams snaps. It seems like roles are shifting and some of our draftees and big-money guys aren’t getting the work we expected.
So, the Hawks are sitting at 3-2, with a familiar record, a concerning turnover problem, and some shifting roles. The Emerald City is watching. Can our guys clean up the fumbles and respond like the 2025 squad did, or are we heading down the 2024 path? This next stretch is going to tell us everything about what kind of team we have.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Field Gulls.
Leave a Reply