Week 11 was a big moment for the entire NFC West as the balance of powers was shifted a bit.
The San Francisco 49ers (5-5), who had dominated the division for so long, were defeated by quarterback Geno Smith and the Seattle Seahawks 20-17.
This game put the Seahawks back into the competition for the divisional title after previously losing five of the last six games. The Seahawks needed some life pumped into them to defeat their rival, who had they had lost for six consecutive games.
Smith and the team made this game personal, but Seattle took the matchup even more personally as Smith noticed a Seahawks great wearing 49ers colors on the sidelines.
What did Geno Smith see on the sidelines
Smith talked about the game becoming even more personal in the middle of the game to Richard Sherman, former Seahawks cornerback and host of The Richard Sherman Podcast.
He explained: “Somewhere in the third quarter, I looked over to the bench and I saw K.J. standing over there and I was like ‘what the,’ you know what I mean and I was like ‘man, we just gotta beat these boys’ cause I just saw K.J.
“It just kinda pi–ed me off a little bit, he’s a Seahawk, he shouldn’t have those colors on.”
Wright was one of the most underrated defenders during the Seahawks’ Legion of Boom defense.
Wright started 140 of the 144 games in the ten seasons played for Seattle from 2011 to 2020. During that time, Wright accumulated 941 total tackles, 593 solo tackles, 66 tackles for loss, 27 quarterbacks, 24 pass deflections, 11 forced fumbles and six interceptions. Smith and Wright were teammates together in the last two seasons while Smith was a backup to Russell Wilson.
Wright played for the Las Vegas Raiders before eventually retiring. He is now the defensive quality control coach for the Seahawks’ rivals, the 49ers.
No hard feelings
Smith knows not to take the move too personally from Wright as this is his first coaching job in the league.
He does see that the 49ers were more than willing to give a former Seahawks an assistant coaching job. This added fuel to the fire of Seahawks fans and players who felt disrespected by their rivals. This game was an extra push for the Seahawks to beat the 49ers in their own stadium.
It is not uncommon for legends of one team to have to play for a divisional rival. Sherman, himself, was among those who departed for free agency after the 2017 season after seven elite years in Seattle.
He played three seasons for the 49ers from the 2018 season to 2020 before playing his last season in the league with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021.
There is nothing personal between Smith and Wright as Smith needed the extra inspiration to defeat their rivals. Smith would get the last laugh as he would score on a 13-yard run with 12 seconds left in the game. Seattle currently owns the tiebreaker over San Francisco in the race for the playoffs.
