Seahawks aim to turn things around in San Francisco

SANTA CLARA, California — Coach Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks have a lot bigger worries than wondering if the San Francisco 49ers are ready to make a quarterback switch to Jimmy Garoppolo.

With the Seahawks (6-4) having lost two out of three games to remain behind the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC West and missing several key defensive players, led by cornerback Richard Sherman and safety Kam Chancellor, they are focused on getting their season going in the right direction headed into today’s game at San Francisco (1-9).

So the fact the 49ers are sticking with rookie C.J. Beathard for at least one more week instead of turning the reins over to the quarterback of the future, Garoppolo, didn’t change a thing for the Seahawks.

“We’re just preparing for the 49ers,” Carroll said. “They’ve got a style of offence, they’ve got really good players that do what they do. Whoever’s triggering it from the quarterback spot, we’re going to go play football.”

The Seahawks are usually at their best at this time of year, going 34-9 after the start of November over the past five seasons to overcome some slow starts and get into position for a playoff run.

But that has not been the case this season. Seattle lost at home to Washington three weeks ago and then this past Monday at home to the Falcons as the injuries have taken a toll.

“I wish we were ahead of those numbers, but we’re kind of in the same spot,” Carroll said.

The 49ers are in a far different situation, but at least have the good feeling of coming off a win, having beaten the Giants 31-21 before the bye to avoid a possible winless season.

“We’re 1-9. It’s not like we’re doing cartwheels saying we’ve got this figured out,” general manager John Lynch said. “We have a long way to go.”

The Seahawks’ underperforming run game will get another remodel this week. With Mike Davis likely out due to a groin injury, the Seahawks will again turn to the combo of Thomas Rawls and Eddie Lacy to try and get something started on the ground. Seattle ranks 17th in rushing, but Russell Wilson is the leading rusher and the running backs have provided very little since rookie Chris Carson went down with an ankle injury early in the season. Rawls was an unexpected scratch before last Monday’s game against Atlanta. He’s averaging 2.6 yards per carry. Lacy is averaging 2.5 yards per carry.

Seattle rookie cornerback Shaquill Griffin is expected out due to a concussion suffered against the Falcons.