NFL Analyst explains why this Seahawk should have a big game against the 49ers

It’s been a frustrating second half of the season for Seahawks’ quarterback Sam Darnold. After a first half that had him flirting with All-Pro and even MVP conversations, Darnold came back to Earth hard, starting with a game in Los Angeles where he threw four interceptions. In a matter of a few hours, people started thinking about his 2024 end-of-season crash again.

Since that day, the Seahawks have ramped down their offense into something much more conservative. They’ve won every game they’ve played, and Darnold has played well in some of those games, but he’s stopped pushing the ball down the field for the most part, and a couple of those wins have been in spite of Darnold’s struggles.

However, Manti Te’o of the NFL Network believes that Darnold is going to put up a big performance tomorrow against the 49ers. It’s a take that goes against the popular narrative, which is that Darnold won’t be able to handle the pressure, as evidenced by his poor performance a year ago in a very similar situation, and then the next week in the playoffs.

Te’o’s reasoning is very logical, however. The San Francisco 49ers have one of the worst pass rushes in football, and Sam Darnold has proved this season that he is capable of great things when he has time in the pocket. Two plus two equals four, and Sam Darnold plus time to throw equals a great game.

“The 49ers defense, they’re dead last in sacks, they’re second to last in QB pressure, and that bodes well for Sam Darnold,” Te’o explains during a segment on NFL Network. “We know what Sam Darnold can do if he has time. Just go back to this game against the Commanders where he went 16-for-16 and four touchdowns in the first half.”

Darnold had perhaps his best game of the year against the Commanders, finishing 21 of 24 for 330 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 1 interception for a 141 QB Rating. Per Pro Football Focus, Darnold was pressured on just three of his dropbacks, and was not sacked once the whole game.

One of only a couple times Darnold was pressured in his masterpiece against the Commanders earlier this year. — Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) drops back to pass. | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

“That’s what happens with Sam Darnold, we’ve seen it throughout his career, not just in this game, but when he was in Minnesota. If he has time, he will be able to dissect you and get the ball to all of those weapons,” Te’o continued. “When I look at Sam Darnold, his biggest kryptonite that we do know is the pass rush.”

Darnold is hardly alone in this consideration, of course. A vast majority of quarterbacks struggle to handle an effective pass rush, and pretty much all of them are better when given a clean pocket and time to process. But Darnold seems particularly affected by how good his protection is, and even with injury concerns at left tackle things should be pretty clean this week.

The 49ers were depending heavily on star DE Nick Bosa to carry the load for the pass rush in 2025. He tore his ACL back in Week Three against the Arizona Cardinals and will not be returning this season regardless of how deep the 49ers make it into the playoffs. PFF has him at ten pressures in the two games and approximately one quarter he got to play this year.

Star rookie Mykel Williams, who had posted nineteen pressures in nine games before going down with a torn ACL of his own, was part of their backup plan to replace Bosa. Keion White, who was a trade deadline acquisition from the Patriots and has given San Francisco sixteen pressures in eight games, is questionable.

The closest thing the 49ers have to a good pass rusher is Bryce Huff, 42 pressures posted across sixteen games. Sam Okuayinonu has been pressed into action a lot this season, 24 pressures thus far. Kalia Davis (nine pressures) and Alfred Collins (fourteen pressures) present almost nothing in the way of interior push from the tackle spots.

San Francisco gets a little bit here and there from guys like Yetus Gross-Matos (thirteen pressures in seven games) and Jordan Elliott (fifteen pressures). But despite the lack of reliable pressure, San Francisco does not blitz very much, sporting a 21.8% blitz rate that is almost identical to Seattle’s. They win with their guys up front, or they don’t win at all.

So there’s every reason to expect plenty of time for Darnold to work through reads and make throws. Maybe there will even be enough time for him to uncork some shots downfield like we saw in the first half of the season. And if Manti Te’o has the right read on this game, and Darnold does play well, it’s hard to imagine Seattle not winning the game and the division.

It needs to be a different story this time around. — Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) passes against the San Francisco 49ers. | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

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