Mike Macdonald Has Owned The Shanahan 49ers, Will He Continue To Do So?

Six matchups in, Mike Macdonald has consistently gotten the better of Kyle Shanahan’s offense in San Francisco, so will he maintain that in matchup seven?

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike MacDonald meet at midfield following an NFC Divisional Round game. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Christmas 2023. The Baltimore Ravens roll into San Francisco to take on a 49ers team sporting the MVP favorite in Brock Purdy. After Mike Macdonald got done with him, that particular aspiration was wrapped. The 49ers scored 17 offensive points, threw five interceptions, and had a -0.165 EPA per play. John Schneider definitely took note.

Macdonald Has The Special Sauce

A couple months later, the Seattle Seahawks hired Macdonald, no doubt in part because they had taken five straight losses to the 49ers. And overall, they’ve been rewarded well. In 2024 week 11, the 49ers managed 17 points and 0.022 EPA. The 2025 opener, 17 points and 0.125 EPA (and a win). And then, of course, the two late-season games last year.

Week 18 for the division and NFC’s top seed, and San Fran manages 3 points and -0.359 EPA. Divisional round, how about 6 points and -0.456 EPA? Only once has Kyle come out on top in these matchups, week 6 in 2024, with 36 points and 0.32 EPA. It’s been one-sided, and it seems like Mike knows how to counter here. But now, we’re in a new season.

What Is The Special Sauce?

The reasons why the Seahawks have matched up so well against the 49ers in these areas are complex and multi-faceted. But two major reasons, in my mind, are taking advantage of Brock Purdy tendencies and deficiencies. Purdy spreads the ball around and gets the ball out of his hands quickly based on pre-snap reads. And Mike loves to mix things up pre-snap.

Brock also has a mediocre arm, which is the main reason why he fell so far in the draft. The current iteration of the 49ers also lack a true field-stretcher (as they did last season), unless you want to count Brandin Cooks. This makes it hard for their offense to force defenses back, condensing everything into a box around 20-25 yards from the line of scrimmage.

Put all that together, and you’ve got a recipe for an uphill battle. Against lesser defenses with weaker talent, it’s not a big problem. But trying to fit the ball into tight windows in the intermediate parts of the field against this Seattle defense that isn’t afraid of getting beat over the top, while you’re not getting as many easy pre-snap reads? Not fun.

It’s A New Season

All that being said, this is a new season, and Shanahan has had an entire offseason to try to figure out a counterpunch. Maybe that counter was De’Zhaun Stribling, who is hoping to return to the field in December, taking the top off the defense. But maybe he’s got something else more schematic in his back pocket. Can Mike handle it?

Whatever he may have planned, a few things remain constant. Brock Purdy doesn’t have a big arm, and his offense lacks a vertical threat. Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel may be better than what they had back in January, but they’re not burning up the field with speed. If Kyle figures out a way to crack Mike’s defense, maybe things aren’t as straightforward as they appear.

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