The frustration is getting to DK Metcalf.
Thursday’s 36-24 loss to the 49ers was tense from the jump for the star Seattle receiver, who was caught by the broadcast in what appeared to be a heated exchange with his offensive coordinator through a headset on the sidelines during the first quarter.
Metcalf struggled to get on the same page with quarterback Geno Smith after they linked up for a 30-yard reception on the game’s fourth play.
The Seahawks’ second offensive drive stalled out at their own 25 after three successive pass attempts to Metcalf — one deep left, then short right, then deep right — fell incomplete to end an eight-play, 15-yard series.
Things did not get better on either side of the ball, as the 49ers took advantage of Seattle’s early chaos to take a 13-0 lead in the second quarter.
Metcalf was shown on the Amazon Prime broadcast slumped down on the Seahawks bench, wearing a disheartened look as he offered half-hearted fist-bumps to a teammate.
Things appeared to turn for the wideout as the first half wound down.
On third-and-2 at the San Francisco goal line, Metcalf went way, way up to snag Smith’s short pass in the end zone, but any good feelings were short-lived as his toes were just over the line and the play was ruled incomplete.
The Seahawks settled for a field goal and a 16-3 deficit to end the half.
Metcalf later had a 52-yard touchdown called back due to an illegal shift.
After an impressive 3-0 start, Seattle has now lost three straight.
While Smith was able to rack up 312 passing yards with a second-half rally, Metcalf finished the night with just 48 of them on his ledger, tallying three catches on 11 targets.
“We need to get better at a lot of things,” Smith told repoters. “That’s the reality. We need to find ways to win. Whatever the bread and butter is, we got to collectively come up with that answer and get to it.”
With 10 days before taking the field again in Atlanta on Oct. 20, the Seahawks are going to be taking a long, hard look at what’s gone wrong in the last few weeks.
“You can’t fix everything overnight,” coach Mike MacDonald said. “You’ve got to pick one thing at a time. You’ve got to be really surgical in our approach, positive. There (are) good things on tape. The effort was there. The guys are trying to play physical. Trying to play the right way.
“We’ve got to look at what we’re asking and how we’re coaching it and how teams are attacking us, and then go from there. That’s really just going to be the thought. Kind of like a mini bye week, so going to be looking at ourselves a lot over the next few days and then go back to work on Monday.”