Just about every national pundit predicted the Seattle Seahawks to clinch a playoff berth in Week 15. The San Francisco 49ers had other plans. The 49ers defeated the Seahawks in an overtime, 26-23, victory at Levi's® Stadium behind a Robbie Gould walk-off field goal. Sunday's upset win marked San Francisco's first victory over Seattle since Dec. 2013.
Here's what Seattle's locker room had to say about the 49ers following the loss:
Head coach Pete Carroll on Sunday's loss to the 49ers:
"It was a good, close game. They played really well. They did a nice job. The offense did a nice job, particularly in the first half. We got better as the game went on defensively and all of that. But, there was just too much to overcome and that was a difficult game. It was obviously a really important championship opportunity for us and there's some huge lessons for our team. We have to make sure we can't hurt ourselves and when that happens, it's hard to overcome and we didn't today. So, hats off to those guys. It's a big win for them. They did a nice job today."
Carroll on the difference between Week 13 and Sunday's contest against the 49ers:
"We didn't play the same. We did a lot of things the same, but in the areas that made a difference, we got so far behind the sticks with the penalties. We hit the big play that put us in the position to go kick the field goal at the end, but we got a big penalty in the end. So, it's just a different game. They are never the same. It's always a different game. It's not because you did this, it's going to go this way or that way. You have to go play and see what happens."
QB Russell Wilson on the Seahawks big plays being negated by penalties:
"We had too many penalties. We have got to be sharper. We have got to be cleaner. It's a disappointing loss, because we felt like we could have played better in that sense. The last few drives there, even in overtime, we were able to get some big plays and then, we got some penalty calls. It's part of the game, but when it comes down to crunch time we have got to be great."
Wilson on what went wrong compared to the Seahawks Week 13 matchup against the 49ers:
"I definitely think we prepared at a high level. I thought we played a really good game of back-and-forth. They played really well today. We played well. Just to be honest with you, all it really came down to were some penalties here and there, and we had some penalties that really kind of kicked us back, but it is what it is. We have got to be better. We have got to be sharper, and we're going to do that as a team and we're going to make sure we do everything we can to continue to tighten up and make sure that doesn't happen."
WR Doug Baldwin on what made the Week 15 matchup so difficult:
"We pride ourselves on running the ball and I think they really emphasized stopping the run. They forced us into situations where we had to play from behind the sticks. They played good coverage for the most part. We had miscues. Obviously, 14 penalties does not help you in that regard. There are a lot of things we can learn from and we will."
Baldwin on falling to the 49ers despite their record:
"I know how hard these players work. I know how hard these coaches work and I can't take anything away from the 49ers. They played an excellent game tonight. They battled hard. They fought back every time we threw a punch. I have to give them credit."
DE Frank Clark on Week 15's difference compared to the last game against the 49ers:
"They came to play some ball. That's all. We didn't execute. We gave them too much in penalties. We had, what, 150 yards in penalty yards? You see down the stretch the whole second half, we kept ourselves in check. Towards the end of the first half, we killed ourselves with penalties. On defense, we gave them too many pass interference calls. With special teams, we didn't execute. We gave them some personal fouls. Even on offense, we gave them those holding calls late down the stretch. When you give up 50-plus yards on the last four drives, offense and defense, over 100 yards of penalties, the game is going to turn. We're going to make it harder. We all know that shouldn't have even been a game. At the end of the day, we made it a game by giving them those penalties."
CB Shaquill Griffin on Sunday's game being different from the Week 13 contest:
"I think it looked different because of the refs. That's just the honest answer. I feel like we haven't had this many flags called against us since I've been here. It sucks that it happened, but I can't blame it on them. We can't put ourselves in that position. That's completely on us."
Griffin on Nick Mullens taking more shots downfield in their second meeting:
"I felt like he was going to take shots and that he would feel confident about his game against us. He came in and had 400 passing yards on us, so I'm telling the defense that he's going to feel confident about throwing against us. That's something that we were going to continue to work to stop. They had a couple of big plays, but there was nothing that we couldn't control."
T Duane Brown on the preparation of the 49ers defense:
"They fought hard. They had a good answer for some of our run schemes, but the biggest factor was the penalties. Penalties stopped our drives, pushed us back and made us one-dimensional. We played into their hands. We're at our best when we have a balanced attack. Sometimes, penalties just killed us."
Brown on if the Week 15 contest felt like a playoff atmosphere:
"We knew exactly what was going to happen. We knew they were going to come out with a lot of energy. They have really good, young players. I take my hat off to them. We kept ourselves in the game, but we shot ourselves in the foot a bunch of times. We had plenty of opportunity to take it over, but we set ourselves back. We have to find a way to fix it. It's not going to get any easier. We have a really good team coming into our stadium next weekend."
RB Chris Carson on the 49ers ability to defend the run:
"We knew that they wanted to spoil everything as they should do. They did a great job on defense in stopping the run in the first half. We shot ourselves in the foot with a lot of penalties, so we've got to get that cleaned up."
