Though 0-2, hope emerges
SEATTLE — This is the 49ers’ personal house of horrors, a place where Super Bowl dreams have died, humiliation has been suffered and futility is the norm.
The 49ers have won just four times in what is now known as CenturyLink Field since it opened in 2002. They last won in Seattle in 2011 and the team’s average margin of defeat in the subsequent six visits was 17.7 points. For some, a trip to Seattle means
oysters and IPA; for the 49ers it means pure, undiluted misery.
So even though Sunday’s game ended with another L and even though head coach Kyle Shanahan insisted he was extremely disappointed by the outcome, the 49ers’ 12-9 defeat was, at the very least, a change of pace. And at the most? “There are no moral victories in the NFL,” quarterback Brian Hoyer cautioned.
Yes, that’s what he’s supposed to say. But this one definitely felt like a moral victory.
It was a game the underdog 49ers could have won at the end. A game in which the vaunted 12th man was so frustrated with Seattle’s impotent office that some booing was heard in the soldout, home-opener crowd. A Seattle win that required — of course — some fourthquarter, Houdini-like plays from quarterback Russell Wilson.
It was a game that revealed what the 49ers might
“It was a bad mistake. I’ve got to play a whole lot better.” Brian Hoyer, 49ers quarterback, on throwing a key interception
look like as the team tries to build a foundation, rebuild a culture, gain respectability.
It showcased an offense that depends on the run and a stout defense. In other words, a throwback to the 2011 Jim Harbaugh-led 49ers.
While those building blocks are being revealed, the reality is mediocrity. The 49ers still haven’t scored a touchdown this season. They couldn’t seize the moment.
“It comes down to getting it done in the moment of truth,” Shanahan said. “Obviously, we didn’t do a good job in the passing game.”
The passing game is a problem and some angry fans already want Hoyer benched or Shanahan fired or Joe Montana to step on the field. But these are the depleted 2017 49ers, which we knew going in: a journeyman quarterback, a rookie backup, a wing and a prayer. And the promise of next year.
Hoyer has not been very good. On Sunday, he was 15-for-27 with a wretched interception: right into the solar plexus of Bobby Wagner. It was Hoyer’s second interception in two games.
“It was a bad mistake,” he said. “I’ve got to play a whole lot better.”
But the 49ers’ offensive line wasn’t terrible. The offense didn’t seem rattled by the noise, the rain, the overall Seattle discomfort. And the running game was clicking: Carlos Hyde rushed for 124 yards, including a career long of 61. He talked about having to put the team on his shoulders, and he might be right.
“The fight — that’s what I take away, is the fight,” he said. “I’ve played against these guys a bunch of times and they’ve whupped us before. We came in with a different mentality.”
For most of the game, the 49ers’ defense contained a struggling Seattle offense, despite being on the field for so long you would have thought Chip Kelly was still the head coach. The Seahawks had the ball for almost 14 more minutes than the 49ers. But even though Seattle strung together long drives, the Seahawks had to settle for field goals.
After a 16-play drive. After a 10-play drive. A punt after another 10-play possession.
When the 49ers took a 9-6 lead early in the fourth quarter, the Seattle fans started to get restless. The boos could be heard.
“That was picked up on,” linebacker NaVorro Bowman said. “They’re used to them taking over the game and their offense having success and feeding off their crowd. Our effort was there. We just need a little bit more.”
The 49ers’ defense didn’t have what it needed at the end of a 10-play drive when the Seahawks went no-huddle and rookie running back Chris Carson finally got the Seattle running game moving. On 3rd-and-7, Wilson squirted through the three defenders and, on the run, threw into the end zone for Paul Richardson, who scored. The 49ers’ defense had contained Wilson for 52 minutes, had sacked him three times and got to him 10 times, but it wasn’t quite enough.
“We did a fair job for the most part, but that one time you let up,” Bowman said.
Now the 49ers have a quick turnaround. They will play another divisional foe Thursday night, when the Rams come to Levi’s. Every other team in the division is 1-1; the 49ers are 0-2.
“They look like they’re going to improve like crazy,” Seattle head coach Pete Carroll said. “They’re so young and they’re so new at it all. We’re lucky we got them early in the year.”
Carroll is known for hyperbole, but he knows that what we witnessed Sunday was different than it has been for several years.
The 49ers didn’t win. But they left their personal house of horrors with some hope. Some things to build on. Ann Killion is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: akillion@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @annkillion