49ers Took the Wrong Turn in the Road in Week 3 versus Seahawks

49ers Took the Wrong Turn in the Road in Week 3 versus Seahawks by Peter Panacy

The days of a great San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks rivalry are long gone now. And the Niners’ 37-18 Week 3 loss to the Hawks proves any semblance of a classic NFC West rivalry is dead in the water.

Oh, the days when San Francisco 49ers former head coach Jim Harbaugh and current Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll led their teams in bouts that would ultimately decide the outcome of the division and the NFC.

The two teams are headed in opposite directions. Seattle, unfazed by its ugly offensive showing to start 2016, seems to be right back on track to a playoff return. And the Niners? Well, their 37-18 loss to Seattle in Week 3 eerily parallels the same problems the team faced a year ago.

Yeah, this classic rivalry is dead. It has been for some time.

A rivalry isn’t much of one when one team simply dominates the other. And yet that’s exactly what is happening here. The Niners haven’t won in Seattle since 2011. And they haven’t beaten the Seahawks at all since 2013.

But there’s more than just wins and losses. There’s the trajectory for each franchise.

Seattle has its woes. It’s a far from perfect franchise.

And yet the Seahawks remain playoff contenders. They have San Francisco’s number too.

Here’s what Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News said about the differences:

Point blank: I don’t think any of this changes until either the Seahawks run out of good players (good luck with that) or the 49ers fire [Trent] Baalke. [Blaine] Gabbert obviously isn’t the answer — Seattle’s defense didn’t respect him and had no reason to; maybe Colin Kaepernick will get a shot at QB in a few weeks, but there’s no certainty about his level of play. And the 49ers’ receivers were erased by the Seahawks on Sunday, as has happened in almost every Seahawks matchup at least since 2011.

Nope. No rivalry to be seen here.

One may still exist between the fans. But it’s one-sided. At least in this decade. And there isn’t much arguing that, unless we’re simply counting Super Bowl trophies.

At least the Niners win out in that category.

All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of ESPN.com, Pro-Football-Reference.com and Sports-Reference.com unless otherwise indicated.