Seahawks keys in another NFC West test: rebounding Russell Wilson, stopping 49ers’ run
The Seahawks have the league’s top-ranked offense, at 425 yards per game.
The last time Seattle entered week 8 ranked number one in the NFL in offense was in 2005, when Matt Hasselbeck, Shaun Alexander and friends were averaging 390 yards per game. That season ended in the franchise’s first Super Bowl.
The way the defense has been playing for the Seahawks (5-1) entering Sunday’s NFC West game against San Francisco (4-3) at CenturyLink Field, that offense needs to stay top-ranked.
That and more are the keys to Seattle’s second straight division game, on what is a gloriously sunny November Sunday in the Pacific Northwest.
1. Russell Wilson is the best in the NFL in the last 50 years in this situation. The Seahawks quarterback is 31-8 in his career following an in-season loss. That the best such record since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger. Wilson is coming off his first three-interception game since December 2017, offsetting his three touchdown throws in Seattle’s overtime loss at Arizona.
Wilson has 22 touchdown passes, tying Peyton Manning’s league record for most through six games. He needs five TD throws Sunday to tie Tom Brady’s NFL record for most through seven games.
Wilson is playing a 49ers defense that was missing seven opening-day starters last week when San Francisco routed the Patriots in New England. If form holds from his first five games of this season--when he became the favorite for the league’s MVP award--and his first nine years in the NFL, this will be one of the best games Wilson’s played in a minute.
“The thing about him is, he’s the ultimate competitor,” Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said. “He knows that he’s got to protect the football.
“And I’m quite certain that we won’t see a performance like that.”
2. With the Seahawks’ top three running backs injured and the league’s six-day entry protocol for COVID-19 testing making it impossible to import help from outside the team within a week to have him play, David Moore may take on added significance.
Moore could be a way the offense gets more creative with personnel in the run game. Seattle’s number-three wide receiver is one of the most athletic players on the team. He returns punts and kickoffs and has sporadically run fly sweeps after pre-snap motion in the offense. This week, if Chris Carson doesn’t play like it appears he won’t and Carlos Hyde’s hamstring prevents him from playing—Hyde is questionable—Moore could be more of a running back. That would help rookie DeeJay Dallas, who finished last week’s loss at Arizona as Seattle’s only healthy running back.
3. K.J. Wright has been a standout switching from the weakside linebacker spot he’s held down for the previous eight years to strongside with the loss of Bruce Irvin to season-ending knee surgery. Rookie first-round pick Jordyn Brooks excelled last weekend in his first start back from a month out with a sprained knee. Sunday, Wright and Brooks have the league’s most difficult tight-end challenge.
San Francisco’s George Kittle is rolling again. He had 15 catches in his first game back this month from two games out with a sprained knee. He has 12 catches in 17 targets from quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo the last two games, San Francisco’s wins over the Rams and Patriots. He had seven catches the last time these teams met, in December’s NFC West title game the 49ers won on the final play. But the Seahawks, partly because of Wright, have kept Kittle corralled in five career games. His 19 receptions against Seattle are by far his fewest among any division opponent, and the Seahawks are the only team to keep him without a touchdown so far. Wright, Brooks in his first time facing Kittle, and the Seahawks need to do it again in order to win Sunday.
4. 49ers top running back Raheem Mostert is on injured reserve. San Francisco rested number-two back Jerick McKinnon some last week against New England to have him rested for this game. Third back Jeff Wilson hurt his ankle. Wilson is out for Sunday.
Undrafted rookie JaMycal Hasty could start Sunday. Tevin Coleman is trying to come back from a knee injury this week. The Niners activated him off injured reserve Saturday. It’s a potpurri of fill-ins at running back.
Seattle will game plan to take away San Francisco’s running game, perhaps with safety Ryan Neal (or questionable Jamal Adams, if he makes it back from his strained groin by the weekend) crowding the line of scrimmage. The Seahawks had an open spot on the active roster they seemed to be saving for the debut of former All-Pro run-stopping defensive tackle Damon “Snacks” Harrison from the practice squad. But they promoted undrafted rookie tight end Stephen Sullivan from the practice squad to perhaps debut at defensive end on that line instead.
The 49ers used play-action passes 61% of the time last week against the Patriots, an NFL-high this season. That game won’t work if the Seahawks succeed in taking away the run.
This story was originally published November 1, 2020 at 10:14 AM.
