Jim Moore: Unexpected bonus of a playoff game plus the draft should give Seahawk fans hope

For the longest time I couldn’t figure out why the 49ers were favored by only nine points to beat the Seahawks, and that feeling remained at halftime after Pete Carroll’s team took a 17-16 lead.

Were they about to write another improbable chapter in a season that was supposed to be filled with losses but featured just enough wins to make the playoffs instead?

You saw the game, you know the answer turned into an emphatic “no!” The 49ers rolled to a 41-23 victory, piling up 505 yards of offense, looking like Super Bowl contenders. But as impressive as they were, Saturday’s game shouldn’t douse enthusiasm in Seattle.

A postseason appearance was an unexpected bonus. And the Seahawks had the misfortune of getting the worst draw in the NFC. I’d argue that if they had played against any other team in the first round, they would have had a more reasonable chance to advance to the second round.

They faced the hottest team in the league - the 49ers entered the playoffs having won their last 10 regular-season games. They simply had too many play-makers for a middling Seattle defense to deal with. It took 60 minutes to prove as much, but the vastly better team eventually won in predictably convincing fashion.

All of which told us what needs to be addressed in the draft - the defense.

I’m not sure how big the camp is, whether it’s enormous or just a handful of us roasting marshmallows, but I’m in Geno Smith’s camp, thinking the Seahawks found a franchise quarterback this year.

Did he make mistakes Saturday and at times this season? Sure he did. But he set franchise passing records and showed he can be good enough to lead the Seahawks to a Super Bowl in the future with an improved supporting cast.

Let me ask you something. Pick a quarterback in the league, any quarterback, even Patrick Mahomes. Do you think Mahomes could have led the Seahawks to a Lombardi Trophy this year? If you say yes, then you must think the Seahawks would have won a bunch of 41-38 games to get there because Mahomes couldn’t have done anything to help the defense.

The Seahawks have a Super Bowl-caliber quarterback, but they don’t have a Super Bowl-caliber defense. You might not agree with the former, but you’d have to be delusional to disagree with the latter.

It’s interesting to point out - as Michael Shawn Dugar did in The Athletic - that only one QB in the NFC playoffs, Daniel Jones of the Giants, was a first-round pick. So it’s not unreasonable to think that Geno, who was a second-rounder, could find himself in a Super Bowl someday.

For that to happen, the Seahawks need to re-sign Smith, who’s an unrestricted free agent. How much should they pay him? No idea. Guessing somewhere in the neighborhood of an average of $25 million to $30 million for three years.

The best part? Based on his comments after Saturday’s game, Smith sounds willing to give the Seahawks a hometown discount. They’ve been loyal to him, he wants to be loyal to them. So the Seahawks are likely to get a bargain at the negotiating table.

Meanwhile, they can also try to re-sign Drew Lock, who’s also a free agent. Lock could be the franchise quarterback of the future. That might be an accurate statement or might be a reach. We truly don’t know just yet.

The Seahawks are in terrific shape at quarterback. Smith can be the temporary guy, Lock can be the guy they groom, and then they can draft another quarterback in the draft.

But they don’t have to take that player with the No. 5 overall pick that they got from Denver. Smith’s play this year allowed them the luxury of finding a QB they like later in the draft. They don’t have to force it early in the draft like most thought they would.

With their four picks in the first and second rounds, they can address pass-rushing and run-stopping needs, linebacker needs, even secondary needs. It’s fun to watch the Seahawks when they’re clicking on offense, but they need more in the way of scoring prevention for their defense.

For as good as Russell Wilson was for the better part of a decade in Seattle, even in his prime, he couldn’t have carried the Seahawks farther than Smith did this year. I’d like to see the Seahawks take defensive players with every one of their first four picks and see what Geno can do with an improved defense that would also include the return of Jamal Adams in 2023.

The 49ers and Seahawks might be in the same division, but one team was in a different league altogether on Saturday. If they take steps to strengthen their defense in the draft, the Seahawks can quickly close the gap on San Francisco in the NFC West and become legitimate Super Bowl threats.

Jim Moore has covered Washington’s sports scene from every angle for multiple news outlets. You can find him on Twitter @cougsgo, and on 950 KJR-AM, where he co-hosts a sports talk show from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekdays.