Seahawks defense has 2 weapons new to 49ers for NFC West title game Saturday
Do-it-all Nick Emmanwori did it again.
Sunday, the Carolina Panthers thought they could block the Seahawks’ dynamic rookie safety/nickel defensive back/outside linebacker/inside linebacker/defensive end with a wide receiver. Bad idea.
Midway through the second quarter with Seattle leading Carolina 3-0, the Panthers ran a fly sweep with Jimmy Horn sprinting with the ball outside right at Emmanwori. Emmanwori annihilated the lead blocker at the point of attack. He pushed him into Horn. That allowed Seahawks teammates to tackle Horn 2 yards short of the line to gain. Emmanwori’s latest startling play led to a Panthers punt.
Ty Okada had set that thumping Seahawks tone on the game’s first drive. Starting his 10th game as an injury fill-in this season, this time for Coby Bryant, Okada zoomed from the back of the defense to cut down Panthers 1,000-yard running back Rico Dowdle in the open field 2 yards behind the line of scrimmage. That also led to Carolina punting. Okada, the former practice-squad player, made two more open-field tackles to end Carolina drives.
“We work on that, a lot,” Emmanwori said in the visiting locker room in Charlotte, North Carolina, following the game. “They say when you get close to later in the season, like in December, teams are going to have a hard time tackling, guys aren’t as fresh. We just make it an emphasis and just work on it.
“It’s never easy, but we just try to work on it because that’s what wins games. Those yards we take away, that’s what wins games right there.”
It helped win this one. Again.
Seattle’s defense dominated. Again. It overcame two more turnovers by quarterback Sam Darnold to beat the Panthers 27-10. Veterans DeMarcus Lawrence and Julian Love were the headliners for taking the ball away from Carolina on consecutive drives to gift Darnold and Seattle’s offense two game-breaking touchdowns in the third quarter.
But what got coach and defensive guru Mike Macdonald fired up talking about this win was the open-field tackling of Emmanwori and Okada, in particular.
“Yeah, I’m glad you brought that up. You’re absolutely right,” Macdonald said. “This (Panthers team has) a good offense. They’ve been moving the ball, and they’ve been creating explosives and been doing a great job recently.
“Those are some open-field tackles as well that those guys were making ... (those) were critical yards. I mean, you miss that tackle, now you’re in a third and 2. This is a great fourth-down team. Kind of the shape of that drive really takes a turn when you’re able to staple guys. I felt like it was all three levels.
“So, I’m glad you brought that up.”
Seahawks-49ers showdown
The 10th win in 11 games for the Seahawks (13-3) puts them in an NFC West title game Saturday night against the San Francisco 49ers (12-4). The winner becomes the No. 1 seed in the conference playoffs.
“That’s how we want it,” Emmanwori said.
“It’ll be a great game, a great moment. Wouldn’t be nothing better than beating our division rivals.”
The Niners beat the Seahawks 17-13 in week one at Lumen Field. Emmanwori missed almost all that game. Okada didn’t start it.
Emmanwori got hurt on the fifth defensive play of that opener. On his fourth NFL snap he tackled Christian McCaffrey in the backfield for a loss, a rarity for the two-time All-Pro running back. Lawrence fell on the back of Emmnawori’s leg at the end of that play. The rookie got a high-ankle sprain and missed the rest of that game then the next three for Seattle.
Okada entered for Emmanwori in the first 49ers game. San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan immediately targeted Okada, who didn’t expect to be in there, for a first-down pass on a third down and then a touchdown from Brock Purdy to George Kittle.
Okada went on to start nine games from late September through November. They were the first nine starts of his three-year NFL career, after Julian Love injured his hamstring. Okada, Emmanwori, Pro Bowl cornerback Devon Witherspoon and the secondary became lockdown. Lawrence and the defensive line pressured quarterbacks. That combination became so effective, Macdonald changed his defense.
He’s blitzed less this season, covered with more, while still affecting quarterbacks. Seattle is ninth in the NFL with 42 sacks. That’s fallen off recently, from when the Seahawks were in the top three in sacks.
Love is back. Okada’s start at Carolina was his first this month. He might start again Saturday night in Santa Clara if Bryant can’t recover from his knee injury by then.
Mike Macdonald loves Emmanwori and Okada
Macdonald obviously thinks Emmanwori is special. He keeps giving the second-round pick Seattle traded up 17 spots to draft this spring more roles. That includes as a 9-tech and 5-tech defensive end this month while Seattle shut out Minnesota. Emmanwori keeps excelling.
Macdonald is particularly proud of Okada. The former undrafted Montana State Bobcat epitomizes the coach’s credo that this is a 70-man team, not just the 53 on the active roster but the 17 on the practice squad Macdonald expects and uses to contribute in each game.
“Yeah, look, it’s remarkable. It really is,” Macdonald said Sunday in Carolina. “He’s just— his tackling all year has been phenomenal. I’m thinking of a play in Atlanta (last month): He’s coming across, making a play. He’s a tough son of a gun and takes great angles and trusts it.
“It’s a shout-out to the rest of the team, too. There were some open-field tackles that were big time, but also like every tackle needs to be some sort of vice. Like, you’re never just going to be on your own out there. Guys were running to the ball and were populating the football, even if the ball breaks (out).”
Okada and Emmanwori are two more weapons mostly new to San Francisco that Macdonald can deploy on defense Saturday night. And the Seahawks need to be their best on defense in this big one coming up.
Shanahan’s offense is soaring in the 49ers’ six-game winning streak. San Francisco has scored 90 points the last two games.
Even without injured All-Pro tight end Kittle, with Brandon Aiyuk in a contract impasse not playing, Purdy plus McCaffrey and San Francisco’s offense was 6 for 6 in the red zone scoring touchdowns Sunday night to defeat NFC North-champion Chicago in a 42-38 thriller. The Niners’ winning score was Jauan Jennings’ running free across the middle of the field up the right sideline after his catch for a touchdown with just over 2 minutes remaining.
The previous week at Indianapolis the Niners scored 48 points, their most in more than a quarter-century. Purdy threw for 295 yards against the Colts in week 16. His receivers had 110 of those yards after the catch, often after more crossing routes over the middle
The Seahawks think the Colts and Bears the 49ers don’t have the defense, and particularly the emphasis on drilling and executing of tackling, that Seattle has to limit San Francisco’s gains.
“Every, single week we put together a good tackling plan. We practice it,” Okada said before he left Carolina on Sunday night. “So whether we see it on film or we rep it every, single week, it’s definitely an emphasis. Just tackling, overall, is big for us.
“That’s what I love about this team: Week in and week out, our approach doesn’t change no matter what the circumstances are.”
This story was originally published December 29, 2025 at 12:00 PM.
