Seahawks defense can't come up with a way to stop Gore

SAN FRANCISCO — Seattle coach Jim Mora could count eight different reasons running back Frank Gore had no business getting into Seattle's secondary.

Those would be the eight Seahawks defenders stacked between the tackles and lined up within a step or two of the line of scrimmage. Eight in the box, Mora called it, and it amounted to a dare for the 49ers.

"Technically, you shouldn't be able to run against that," Mora said.

Well, technically, Gore didn't just run. He galloped, and those eight defenders left Seattle with no excuses for what happened.

"An eight-man front, I don't care what they do," safety Deon Grant said, "A runner should never get through the eight-man front."

Injuries to linebackers Lofa Tatupu and cornerback Josh Wilson didn't justify the Seahawks' failure to lay so much as a fingernail on Gore before the goal line. The absences of Leroy Hill and tackle Brandon Mebane didn't exonerate the fact that Gore joined Barry Sanders as the only NFL backs to have two touchdown runs of 79 or more yards in the same game.

He ran 79 yards for a touchdown with 2:36 left in the first quarter, the longest run of his career. Well, at least it was the longest for, oh, another quarter. Gore ran 80 yards untouched for a touchdown the first time he touched the football in the second half.

"I'm man enough to say that second long run, I didn't fit in my gap the way I should have," defensive end Patrick Kerney said. "It cost the team."

Kerney took a step toward quarterback Shaun Hill, giving Gore the window to run right by him. It was only a couple of feet, maybe less.

"It shows you how little it takes to win a football game," Kerney said. "Those are two plays they executed and we didn't."

Those two plays led to the 14 points that were the difference in the game.

One week ago, Seattle's defense deserved credit for keeping the Seahawks deadlocked with the Rams even though their offense committed three turnovers in the first half.

This week, the defense sunk Seattle's chances in a game in which they trailed by only a field goal at halftime despite playing Brandon Frye, a left tackle who had been on the team all of two weeks. One play into the second half, the Seahawks were behind by double digits after no Seahawk touched Gore after he touched the ball.

San Francisco's offense is about as complex as a sledgehammer. The 49ers have Hill, who just might be the most anonymous starting quarterback in the league, and leading receiver Isaac Bruce is most notable for his age at this point.

Gore is the first, second and third consideration for any defense and yet for the second time in four games in San Francisco, he treated Seattle's defense like a turnstile.

Gore ran for 212 yards against Seattle in November 2006, the third-highest rushing total against Seattle. Gore now has the fourth-highest rushing total (207) against the Seahawks, too.

"When you have a downhill, hard runner like that you have to make sure everything is closed up," said defensive tackle Craig Terrill, who started in place of Mebane. "One thing he does really well is finding the open hole."

And on Sunday, Gore did it twice in the span of 18 minutes.

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com