This year, neither the rain nor Smith showed up.

The 49ers' 24-0 loss on national television bore all the earmarks of their previous six defeats. There were bad penalties and questionable timeouts, missed blocking assignments and no pass rush. And there was another ugly outing by Smith that only will heighten the already swirling doubts about whether the former No.1 overall draft pick ever can lead the 49ers out of what has become a five-year slump.

Smith was 12 of 28 for 114 yards, underthrew receivers all night and fumbled twice when he was hit from behind by an unblocked Seahawks defender. Only a desperation 45-yard completion at the end of the first half kept the 49ers from going into the locker room with no first downs and negative passing yards for the half.

Asked to explain Smith's inaccuracy, coach Mike Nolan said he couldn't.

"I wish I could," said a weary Nolan, who lost his father, Dick, only a day earlier. "And I don't want to go to the sore shoulder thing because I don't believe that is it."

The 49ers began the second half in desperation mode, opening the third quarter with an onside kick — it failed — and later trying, unsuccessfully, to induce the Seahawks offside with the specter of a fake punt.

The 49ers showed a glimmer of a comeback when the defense, which had been picked apart by quarterback Matt Hasselbeck in the first half, tightened in the second. The 49ers forced running back Maurice Morris, substituting for injured Shaun Alexander, to fumble on Seattle's opening possession and then intercepted Hasselbeck on the next.

The 49ers took over on the Seattle 23, and behind strong running by Frank Gore drove the ball to the 2-yard line, creating a crucial fourth-down decision. Nolan seemed inclined to go for the touchdown but called timeout before the play. The Seahawks were ready for what came next — Gore, straight up the middle — and stuffed the running back for no gain.

Nolan said afterward that the fourth-down call was designed to give his offense a spark. The message? "That I have confidence in the (offensive) line that they can get a half yard," Nolan said.

The 49ers also failed to convert a fourth-and-three situation on their next possession when Smith's sideline throw to Battle was incomplete.

The 49ers wouldn't come close to scoring again, and a franchise that once had gone nearly 27 years without being shut out was held scoreless for the third time in the past four seasons.

Afterward, there seemed to be some frustration directed at the quarterback.

Tight end Vernon Davis, for example, didn't see a pass in his direction until the fourth quarter.

"I don't know. I don't have an answer for that," Davis said. "I was wondering the same thing. I was trying to figure out why the ball wasn't coming to me (until) the fourth quarter."

In his return to Seattle, receiver Darrell Jackson caught one pass for four yards. On the first play of the game, however, Jackson was open downfield but had to come back for the ball, which fell incomplete. Asked if he came close to making the catch, the normally mild-mannered receiver bristled.

"I don't know," he said. "I was by my man (by) four or five yards. How close was that?"

Asked if he had lost confidence in his quarterback, Nolan deferred the question.