By Morris Phillips

Three points, 142 yards in total offense.  Ouch!

The 49ers took a step back in a lackluster, 20-3 loss to the Seahawks.  A big step back offensively.

Colin Kaepernick had an eventless night once three points are added, and six sacks are subtracted.  Coming off Sunday’s win over the Ravens and the previous Sunday’s second half-rally against the Giants, more was expected.  The Seahawks’ defensive front, however, offered less.

“It’s hard for me to say right now exactly what it was,” Joe Staley said of the 49ers’ protection issues that gave Kaepernick little time to throw, let alone create downfield plays.  “We have to win our one-on-one matchups.  That’s what we’re here to do, that’s what we’re paid to do, and we have to do a better job.”

“They dominated tonight,” Seattle’s Luke Willson said of his team’s defense.  “It’s contagious.  When you see them out there, they shut them down completely.  I thought they were fortunate to get three points to be honest.”

Seattle drew first blood on their opening drive of the night as Marshawn Lynch capped a 12-play drive with a one-yard touchdown run.  Lynch’s biggest issue?  A troubled stomach prior to the game resulted in him throwing up on the sideline during the first quarter.  After that Lynch’s stomach settled down, and his game kicked in.  In his best game of what’s so far been an injury-marred campaign, Lynch ran for 122 yards, his best effort and first 100-yard game since February’s Super Bowl loss to the Patriots.

Lynch’s physical, pile-moving effort left little doubt regarding where the intensity lied in Thursday’s game.  The 49ers were outmatched at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.  San Francisco trailed 17-0 at the half, then settled for a shutout-avoiding Phil Dawson field goal in the final two minutes of the third quarter.  The Levi’s Stadium crowd never got involved, the 49ers’ lackluster play had a lot to do with that.

The 49ers have now gone the previous nine matchups with Seattle without scoring at least 20 points.  Kaepernick fell to 1-6 against the Seahawks as a starter.  In terms of growth from last year’s encounter with their rival from the north, there was none.  On Thanksgiving, the 49ers fell behind 13-0 at the half, and lost 19-3.  The scores of the two games—Thanksgiving of last year which prompted a written apology from owner Jed York, and Thursday’s lopsided affair—would support the contention that the 49ers have made up little ground.

Both teams entered Thursday with 2-4 records.  The 49ers fell for the fifth time in their last six games and now occupy the cellar in the NFC West.  The Seahawks improved to 3-4 with a trip to Dallas next in 10 days from Thursday.  Could the win be a turning point for Seattle, which has plagued by fourth quarter letdowns this season?

“It gets us back on track knowing that we’re the team we always knew we were,” linebacker Bruce Irvin said.  “We didn’t finish the last couple of weeks and this week we did a great job of keep pressing, keep pressing.  We kept our foot on the gas the entire game until the clock hit triple zeros at the end.”

Irvin, Cliff Avril and Seattle sack artist Michael Bennett were the 49ers’ biggest problems offensively.  Bennett won repeated matchups with 49ers’ guard Jordan Devey and registered three-and-a-half sacks.  Avril added another sack, and a tackle for a loss of yardage.  The 49ers had just 21 minutes time of possession and managed just eight first downs.  But that wasn’t a new development: the 49ers have failed to record double-digit first downs in three of their six games.

On nine of their first 11 possessions, the 49ers were forced to punt.

Is there an attainable goal for a team that has now lost 8 of its last 11 regular season games dating back to 2014?  Afterwards, head coach Jim Tomsula sounded resolute that his team would finish this season battling.

“As long as there’s a chance to make the playoffs, we’re going to fight like crazy to get to the playoffs,” Tomsula vowed.

The 49ers take a needed 10-day break before traveling to St. Louis to take on the Rams on November 1.