Why the 49ers Will Beat the Seattle Seahawks in Week 5

The Seahawks destroyed the 49ers the past two times these teams played each other, but both are decidedly different teams now.

Those 49ers had Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall as their starting wide receivers. Pearsall had a PCL injury that rendered him practically useless -- not his fault, at least he played -- and Jennings got shut down both times. He caught six passes for 58 yards and no touchdowns total in both games.

This tandem's complete lack of speed allowed the Seahawks' defensive backs to attack the line of scrimmage and smother the short passes and the run game. This explains why the 49ers scored no touchdowns and reached the red zone only once in those two games against Seattle.

These 49ers have Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel as their starting wide receivers. Samuel seems completely rejuvenated, running harder than ever, he's still explosive and has scored three touchdowns in four games.

And Evans is a huge upgrade over Jennings. That's because Evans is a future Hall of Famer, and defenses must respect his size, catch radius, vertical ability and red-zone prowess. So, even when he's limited by a rib injury, as he is this week, he still alters coverages before the snap because defenses are scared of him. His mere presence on the field provides the 49ers with a schematic advantage.

Meanwhile, last season's Seahawks had Kenneth Walker, one of the best running backs in the NFL, and Klint Kubiak, one of the best offensive play callers in the league. This season's Seahawks don't have Walker anymore -- he's on the Chiefs. His replacements -- Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price -- both are injured, and neither will play on Sunday.

As a result, these Seahawks are one-dimensional on offense. And their new play caller, Brian Fleury, never has called plays before this season. And he's having trouble establishing anyone other than reigning Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba as a legitimate weapon. That's why the Seahawks offense stinks on third down this season.

Sam Darnold is a good quarterback when he can complement a strong running game, but he can't do that this season. Now, he's the focal point of Seattle's offense, and he's turnover-prone when he's under pressure.

That's why the 49ers will beat the Seahawks on Sunday. They have a better quarterback than Seattle, a better offensive play caller than Seattle, and a more balanced offense than Seattle. And while the Seahawks have a great defense, the 49ers' defense is really good in its own right.

This will be a grim, violent, low-scoring game that will come down to field goals.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: 49ers 16, Seahawks 13.

Add us as a preferred source on Google