Niners Nation
49ers vs. Seahawks: The Standard’s 5 fast predictions (paywall)
“Kawakami: Seahawks 23, 49ers 20. Will the 49ers put the same kind of mental and strategic pressure on the Seahawks that they put on the Eagles? Yes, I think so. Which means that one play — say, “Skyy Bang Reverse Pass” — can steal the game. But the Seahawks are made of sterner stuff than the Eagles, and they’re just as talented. The 49ers will have to play even better to win this game. And at some point, the accumulation of injury losses will mean they’ll miss that one player who could’ve turned the game.
Hutchinson: 49ers-Seahawks preview: So you’re telling me there’s a chance? “The Seahawks’ offense has been stuck in mud. Sam Darnold turns the ball over more than any quarterback in the league, and he’s dealing with an oblique injury that will be treated as *something* until proven otherwise (I don’t care how “nothing” it is. It’s the starting quarterback picking up an oblique injury two days before. Those are painful. Purdy can attest).
The 49ers’ secondary impressed me last week. Deommodore Lenoir made up for a dreadful first half. Renardo Green looked outstanding, as did Upton Stout. Marques Sigle? A revelation. The clear weak point, in my estimation, is Malik Mustapha. He’s struggled in coverage, and Dallas Goedert attacked him successfully more than once.
If the 49ers run Cover-4 against a high-low concept designed to stress their young safeties, they should defer to letting Mustapha carry anything underneath and have Sigle — whose speed fundamentally raises the ceiling of this group — carry the vertical threat.“
Kurtenbach: My 49ers-Seahawks (part 3) prediction — great start, tough finish (paywall)
“They’ll attack Seattle’s versatile Cover 2 looks by going wide. Seattle doesn’t match offensive personnel —they have more athletic freaks than the Niners’ offense does — but as the Rams showed in Week 16, that arrogance leaves Seattle susceptible to overloads.
The Niners can’t match the Rams’ three-tight-end sets; they don’t have the bodies. But they can go empty. They can go four-wide with McCaffrey bumping out and in and back out again.
Expect Brock Purdy to look like he’s back at Iowa State, playing Big 12 football — with dart-like throws into wide, intermediate lanes they couldn’t find in Week 18 — to manufacture a hot start.“
49ers’ best chance at cracking Seahawks’ defense hinges on the run game
“But the most vexing player for the 49ers might be hybrid rookie safety Nick Emmanwori, a massive reason McCaffrey had 23 yards and averaged 2.9 yards per attempt despite Seattle staying in its nickel defense, employing an extra defensive back, and playing two safeties deep.
Emmanwori, 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, is a second-round pick whose versatility helped Seattle limit McCaffrey while playing a defense typically reserved for passing downs.
“He’s so big and long and he has the ability to play the run at a very elite level, like a good linebacker can, but he’s also really athletic and...
