The San Francisco 49ers faced our Seahawks three times last year, and here’s the cold, hard truth: Kyle Shanahan’s offense ran 30 drives against Mike Macdonald’s defense and only managed to score *two* touchdowns. Seriously, just two! That’s a testament to the absolute brick wall our D put up. But hold onto your hats, because things are shifting big time for our rivals from down south, and this Sunday is going to be a completely different animal.
Remember Last Year’s Struggles? They’ve Gotten an Upgrade
Last season, our defense was absolutely stifling their passing game. You remember Ricky Pearsall putting up over 100 yards in the first matchup, but 45 of those were on one play. Christian McCaffrey and Kyle Juszczyk each had their 25-yard receptions, sure, but for the most part, we kept their passing attack in check. Why? Because as the next two games showed, they just didn’t have a wideout who could consistently get open. Jauan Jennings was their leading receiver in the second game, but he’s on a different team now. In the playoffs, Kenneth Walker III was tearing it up for us with 116 rushing yards, but their top receiver was Jake Tonges. And even he is on injured reserve now. Charbonnet led us in rushing in that first matchup, and he won’t be in uniform this Sunday either. So, what did the Niners do to fix their major passing problem against the Emerald City? They went out and got a legitimate WR1 in Mike Evans. This guy is no joke, plain and simple. He’s already seventh in the NFL in EPA per target and fifth in targeted success percentage. He’s only seventh in Sumer Sports’ impact plays metric because they haven’t thrown to him enough, with only 24 targets compared to 39+ for the six guys ahead of him. Shanahan is smart, he’s moving Evans all over the formation, and it’s making defenses dizzy. The result? Insane efficiency. Fourteen of Evans’ seventeen receptions so far have resulted in a first down or a touchdown. Plus, George Kittle and Deebo Samuel are back and ready to go this Sunday, after missing their playoff matchup against us last year. This isn’t the same group of Jauan Jennings, Kendrick Bourne, Demarcus Robinson, and Skyy Moore that showed up in Week 18. They have speed around Evans now, which is stretching the field in every direction. Our guys can’t just expect him to catch intermediate passes anymore, because the deep threat is REAL.
Niners Bolstering the Middle to Stymie Our Run Game
It wasn’t just their offense that needed a shake-up. Remember their linebacker situation in the last two matchups against us? They were starting two guys who had basically just signed to the roster around Thanksgiving, alongside Dee Winters. The Niners were so eager to move on from Winters this offseason, despite his rookie contract, which tells you everything you need to know about what they thought of him. Kendricks, at 34, was a step slow on our outside runs, which is totally understandable. Wallow would get absolutely swallowed up, and Winters’ best plays came when the ball was right at him or in coverage. Well, guess what? The Niners have quietly become one of the best teams at defending outside zone runs. That’s a huge deal for us, because our Seahawks love to run some variation outside the tackles about 60% of the time. This means our running backs will face a much tougher test breaking free than they did against that patchwork linebacker group last year.
This Sunday, our Seahawks are going up against a 49ers team that’s clearly addressed their weaknesses from last season’s matchups. Macdonald’s defense dominated them before, but with Evans, Kittle, and Samuel back in the fold, their passing game is a whole new beast. And their retooled linebacker corps is built to stop exactly what we do well on the ground. This game is going to be a true test of where our Seahawks stand early in the season, and every single play will matter. Let’s get loud, 12s, and show them what the Emerald City is all about!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Niners Nation.
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