SEATTLE — For the first time this season at home, the final seconds were relatively calm for the Seattle Seahawks. No stress. No anxiety. Just a few kneel downs.
Russell Wilson, DK Metcalf and Bobby Wagner did enough earlier for the Seahawks to finally avoid a crazy finish at CenturyLink Field.
Wilson threw four more touchdown passes, two to Metcalf, and the Seahawks rebounded from their first loss of the season with a resounding 37-27 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
Wilson and Metcalf tormented San Francisco and its banged up secondary as the top-scoring offence in the league continued to pile up points. The Seahawks (6-1) have scored at least 30 points in six of seven games.
And for the first time this season at home, the outcome was decided long before the final moments. Seattle opened the year with three home wins over New England, Dallas and Minnesota all of which decided in the final moments.
Thumping their division rivals must have felt downright relaxing, even with the Seahawks having five starters inactive for the game.
“I think it says a tremendous amount that it didn’t matter who was playing,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll. “The guys just stepped up and did their job and busted your tails to get it done.”
Wilson hit Metcalf on a pair of first-half touchdown passes, but it was a 2 1/2-minute sequence midway through the third quarter when Seattle blew the game open.
Wilson found rookie DeeJay Dallas on a 2-yard TD pass after San Francisco went three-and-out to open the second half for a 20-7 lead. Dante Pettis fumbled the ensuing kickoff on a big hit from Cody Barton. Six plays later, Wilson evaded pressure in the pocket and zipped a 6-yard TD pas to David Moore for a 27-7 lead.
Seattle added one more score on a 1-yard TD run by Dallas with 3:33 left after the 49ers pulled within 10.
Wilson finished 27 of 37 for 261 yards and has 26 TD passes on the season, one behind Tom Brady for the most in the first seven games of a season.
Metcalf had another career day in his breakout second season. Metcalf had 102 yards receiving in the first half and finished with a career-high 12 catches and 161 yards receiving.
“I don’t think there is anybody better in terms of what he can do and how he’s done it,” Wilson said. “And he’s only in his second year.”
The momentum from two straight wins for San Francisco (4-4) evaporated in a hurry as more injuries continued to pile. Jimmy Garoppolo was just 11 of 16 for 84 yards and an ugly interception in the first quarter. Garoppolo went to the locker room early in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury and was replaced by Nick Mullens.
Running back Tevin Coleman returned for the first time since early in the season, only to leave at halftime with a knee injury. George Kittle made a terrific 25-yard catch early in the fourth quarter, but limped to the locker room with a foot injury.
“It still hurts each time,” 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk said. “Even though it seems to happen over and over again, guys dropping every game, it still hurts every time.”
Mullens led San Francisco on three TD drives in the fourth quarter. He capped the second with a 16-yard TD pass to Ross Dwelley with 4:16 left, but the 2-point conversion failed after replay ruled Jerick McKinnon was touched down short of the goal line.
Mullens was 18 of 25 for 238 yards and two touchdowns. Seattle’s league-worst defence had shut down the 49ers for three quarters before giving up 20 fourth-quarter points.
“I was frustrated with the whole offence, starting with myself. This wasn’t a very good day for us,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said.
DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT
Seattle sacked Garoppolo three times — two by Wagner — a week after failing to record a QB hit on Arizona’s Kyler Murray. The Seahawks held San Francisco to 116 total yards in first half and just 1-yard of offence in the third quarter.
Wagner finished with 11 tackles, three tackles for loss and four QB hits.
“I just felt like we need to stop talking and just do the work and let our play show,” Wagner said.
DK’S DAY
Metcalf’s big day took off when he added another clip to his highlight reel catching a short pass and racing 46 yards for a TD on the final play of the first quarter. On Metcalf’s second TD, Moseley was flagged for interference but couldn’t keep Metcalf’s size and strength from still making the catch.
Metcalf’s previous career highs came in last year’s playoff win over Philadelphia when he had seven catches for 160 yards.
INJURIES
The Seahawks played without five starters and one key backup. Chris Carson, Carlos Hyde, Jamal Adams, Benson Mayowa, Ugo Amadi and Mike Iuptai were all inactive due to injuries.
San Francisco played without starters Deebo Samuel, Jeff Wilson Jr., Kwon Alexander and safety Jaquiski Tartt.
UP NEXT
49ers: have a quick turnaround and will host Green Bay on Thursday night.
Seahawks: travel to Buffalo and a showdown with the Bills next Sunday.
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VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
