SAN FRANCISCO — Less than a year ago, Doug Baldwin was playing for Jim Harbaugh at Stanford.
Both have since graduated to the NFL — Harbaugh as the San Francisco 49ers head coach and Baldwin as a rookie receiver with the Seattle Seahawks — so they were on opposite sidelines Sunday.
And in his first NFL game, Baldwin was one of the few bright spots for the Seahawks in a 33-17 loss. Baldwin, who went undrafted in April, made the team after a surprisingly productive preseason. But even after making the team, he was hardly expected to be the Seahawks’ leading receiver once the regular season began, but that’s exactly what Baldwin did Sunday.
Baldwin caught four passes for 83 yards, including a 55-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that briefly got Seattle back in the game. Baldwin was not able to fully enjoy his big day, however, because it ended in a loss.
“It was all right,” Baldwin said. “Obviously I wanted to get that win, it’s disappointing that we didn’t. But being back here and playing against Jim Harbaugh, it’s a great opportunity, a privilege to play against my college coach, but we didn’t finish the game, we didn’t the win, so it’s still disappointing.”
At the time of Baldwin’s touchdown, it appeared he had just put Seattle in position to cap an impressive comeback. But kickoff and punt return touchdowns moments later rendered Baldwin a footnote in a double-digit loss.
“It was just strange the series of events that went on,” he said. “We had the momentum with us, but we’ve got to find ways to finish, and obviously we didn’t do that today.”
Injury update
Fullback Mike Robinson and cornerback Byron Maxwell both left the game with ankle sprains. Ben Obomanu was shaken up after taking a hit to the head, but Seattle head coach Pete Carroll said the receiver was OK. Seattle started the game without receiver Sidney Rice (shoulder), guard Robert Gallery (knee), and linebacker David Hawthorne (knee).
Young line
With Gallery out, rookie James Carpenter started at left guard, and Breno Giacomini, who has spent most of his three-year career on practice squads, played right tackle. With Rookie James Moffitt starting at right guard, that left Seattle with only two linemen, Max Unger and Russell Okung, who had ever started a regular-season game. The 27 combined starts by Seattle’s line was the fewest in the NFL since 1995, when the expansion Carolina Panthers used a line that had 23 combined starts between the starting five.
Not surprisingly, Seattle’s line struggled, particularly in the first half. The Seahawks averaged only 2.9 yards-per-carry, and Tarvaris Jackson was sacked five times.
Sloppy start
In addition to three turnovers, the Seahawks were also hurt by 11 penalties. That’s too many mistakes, even in a season opener, according to receiver Mike Williams.
“It’s frustrating when you have 10-plus penalties,” he said. “You’re not going to win like that. It’s hard to win in this league even when you play a good game. We had preseason for this, for the things we messed up, that’s what the preseason is for.”
New addition involved early
Seattle didn’t sign defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove until Friday, but the former New Orleans Saint was still on the field quite a bit Sunday. Carroll said Hargrove is sliding into the role previously held by free agent Jimmy Wilkerson, who is out for the season with a knee injury. Hargrove had one of Seattle’s eight tackles for loss.
“We had seen him and had a pretty good evaluation of him,” Carroll said. “He had worked hard to stay in shape, so we just threw him right in and he picked things up well.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
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