Enemy Confidential: Seahawks Face Young 49ers Team Eager to Prove Who's Best in NFC West
After a few years of dormancy, all signs point to the once-intense rivalry between Seattle and San Francisco to resume in full force in Week 10 as the two teams battle for supremacy in the NFC West on Monday Night Football.
The Seahawks enter the game with a stellar 7-2 record, but are underdogs in Vegas thanks to the NFL’s lone undefeated team playing host. At 8-0, the 49ers are finally feeling like they’re putting things together after a rebuilding effort that was momentarily delayed last year due to a season-ending knee injury suffered by quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in 2018.
It’s hard to gauge who this game is more important for:
- This young 49ers squad is still searching for a signature win after beating up on mostly bad teams thus far. Of the eight teams San Francisco has bested, only two have a winning record (Rams and Panthers), while another is sitting at .500 (Pittsburgh).
- A loss would essentially drop the Seahawks three full games behind the 49ers in the NFC West race with only six games left to play.
With the stage set, here’s a closer look at the Seahawks upcoming opponent, including series history, additions/departures, key numbers, and Carroll’s evaluation of the 49ers:
SERIES HISTORY:
--41st regular season meeting, with the Seahawks holding the edge 24-16. The teams have met once in the postseason, with Seattle’s historically epic 23-17 win in the 2013 NFC Championship Game propelling them to their only Super Bowl title. The Seahawks had run off a string of 10 straight wins in the series until their last meeting, a 26-23 49ers win in overtime in Santa Clara last December.
WHAT’S NEW?
--Additions: The 49ers made significant moves this offseason to add pass rush muscle to what was already a solid defensive line group, adding Dee Ford from the Chiefs via trade and selecting Ohio State Nick Bosa with the second pick in April’s draft. Interestingly enough, the team lists Bosa as Ford’s backup at defensive end despite the fact Bosa is among the league leaders with 7.0 sacks and is the front-runner at this point for Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. They took a chance on middle linebacker Kwon Alexander, signing him to a four-year, $54 million free agent contract despite the fact he missed the last 10 games of the 2018 season with a torn ACL while playing in Tampa Bay. Alexander was healthy and playing well, but tore a pectoral muscle last week in Arizona and will miss the rest of the year.
General Manager John Lynch also did his best to supply Kyle Shanahan with a bevy of new offensive weapons, adding running back Tevin Coleman in free agency, drafting South Carolina wide receiver Deebo Samuel in the second round, and trading for former Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders right before the trade deadline two weeks ago.
--Departures: One of the reasons the 49ers are peaking - they were able to add impact talent to an already promising young roster without suffering any major personnel losses. Former Seahawk and current Arizona Cardinal defensive end Cassius Marsh probably qualifies as worth listing here, but he was merely a rotational player for the 49ers defensively a year ago.
INJURY STATUS
In addition to the loss of Alexander, the 49ers may be without their dynamic tight end George Kittle on Monday. Kittle suffered knee and foot injuries in the win over Arizona last Thursday and has yet to practice this week. Key players also missing practice Thursday included cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon and kicker Robbie Gould.
However, San Francisco figures to welcome back a number of key reinforcements in time to face Seattle, with left tackle Joe Staley, right tackle Mike McGlinchey, and outstanding fullback Kyle Juszczyk practicing in limited fashion this week after missing significant time with injuries. It’s possible all three return to action on Monday night.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
2: Number of teams currently with a winning record the 49ers have beaten on their way to an unblemished 8-0 record.
171.1: Rushing yards per game by San Francisco, second behind only Baltimore in league rankings.
108.1: Third down passer rating for Jimmy Garoppolo, fifth-best among qualified quarterbacks.
55: Percentage of 49ers total receiving yards coming after the catch, fourth-best in the league.
48: Percentage of red zone drives by San Francisco resulting in a touchdown, ranking 23rd overall among 32 teams.
1,928: Total yards allowed by the 49ers defense this season, best in the league.
31.8: Percentage of opposing drop backs resulting in quarterback pressure, the best mark among 32 teams.
7: Number of passing touchdowns surrendered, tied for third-best in the NFL.
48: Combined tackles for loss, the second-highest mark in the league.
CARROLL’S THOUGHTS
--Carroll raved about San Francisco’s young defense, which is led by Bosa and DeForest Buckner along the defensive line.
“I think they’re the top group in the whole league,” said Carroll. “Their style of play, their coaching, Nick Bosa adding to it, those guys, have been a big addition. Dee Ford has really fit in well on the third down situations. They’re flying. They’re about as good as you can hope to be now. They’re getting it done.”
--The 49ers are led by defensive coordinator Robert Saleh who was a defensive quality control coach under Carroll from 2011-2013 in Seattle. After two years coaching the linebackers with another former Seahawks coach Gus Bradley in Jacksonville, he got the chance to be a coordinator in San Francisco. Carroll sees the influences of his system, but says Saleh has adapted it to his own style.
“There’s similarities. They’ve adjusted some,” Carroll said. “They’ve done some things a little differently, but in principle, yeah. You can see it’s Robert Saleh’s defense. You can see all that in there. There’s a lot of familiarity. There are some things that are different about it.”
One thing that’s different? While Carroll and the Seahawks have struggled mightily to bring down opposing quarterbacks, the 49ers have tallied 30 sacks so far, the third-best total in the NFL.
“They’re rushing the passer really well." Carroll said. "They’re coming off the ball to rush the passer and it’s been really successful for them.”
--The Seahawks coach says he’s not surprised to see the 49ers make such a big jump this year from the team that finished 4-12 in 2018.
“Kyle [Shanahan] has had the benefit of seeing these guys for a good while when they were really hungry and not getting it done the way they wanted to,” Carroll said. “Now, they’ve turned it around I’m sure they’re just having a whale of a time with it and enjoying the heck out of it.”
Part of the turnaround, of course, is the return to the field of Garoppolo. After missing last season with that knee injury he had been mostly solid, yet unspectacular this season. That was until last week, when he threw for four touchdowns against the Cardinals in what is likely his best performance as a pro.
“Garoppolo, he’s going to be better,” Carroll said. “He’s just going to keep getting better. He’s already completing 71 percent of his passes. How much better can you get? I don’t know, but he will as guys do. I know I’ve said this for a long time about Russell [Wilson] way back when, he’s going to get better. He’s still learning.”
So here we go. The Seahawks will hit the road to begin a stretch of four straight prime time television games against quality opponents. It all starts with the 49ers on Monday as they try to become the first team to hand their division rivals a 2019 loss.
‘We’re playing against a terrific opponent,” Carroll said. “These guys have just done such a marvelous job this season. They played out ahead of games. They’ve played in tough games. They’ve been able to do it all. Got a really good formula playing of their defense and the running game. You know how much we respect that. They’ve been really tough. They look hard to beat and they’re getting guys well, too. Feeling really good about the way this has worked out schedule wise. The Thursday to Monday is a great deal for them. We’re up against it. We’ve got to have a good week. We’re cranked up.”
