Seahawks hope loss was just one of those days

• SAN FRANCISCO AT SEATTLE, 1:15 p.m. FOX

SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks left Green Bay last Sunday surprised, not so much that they lost — no one figured a win at Lambeau would come easily — but in the way the defeat happened.

An offence that led the NFL in the preseason in total yards — standing in the top four in both rushing and passing — was held to its fewest yards in a regularseason game in almost three years (225) and just three field goals as the Packers pulled away late for a 17-9 win.

“You could not have convinced me going into that game that that was the way we were going to perform,” offensive co-ordinator Darrell Bevell said.

“We performed well in the preseason. So I was convinced that we were going to go out and have a real solid game. But it was one of those first games and we made some mistakes.”

The hope is that it was just one of those days against a good team on the road.

“I have no doubts that we will be better, that we will improve and we will get better in all the areas,” Bevell said. “Usually the second game, you correct a lot of things. I have no doubts that we will be able to do that.”

If that doesn’t happen today, when the Seahawks take on the San Francisco 49ers, the doubts about this team and season will not only increase in intensity, but take on added validity.

Struggles at Green Bay are one thing. But the 49ers, once Seattle’s most heated rival, have instead been the Seahawks’ biggest punching bag in the past few years. Seattle has won its last six regular-season games against the 49ers by a combined 147-67, and the last four have come the week after a Seahawks loss.

San Francisco has its fourth head coach in four years. Kyle Shanahan is installing the offensive system he co-ordinated in leading Atlanta to the Super Bowl last season. He hired former Seahawks assistant coach Robert Saleh to bring in a defence similar to Seattle’s. But the 49ers still appear as beatable as any team on the Seahawks’ schedule.