Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers were going to have to beat the best of the best, regardless of what order, to play a home game for Super Bowl LX. Step 1 is complete after upsetting the Philadelphia Eagles.
Kyle Shanahan leaned on Fred Warner during practice to boost energy levels. The 49ers won’t have their All-Pro linebacker against the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday.
They will have Brock Purdy, who has yet to lose in Seattle during his career. That’s no small feat, by the way. Purdy tied Hall of Famer Dan Fouts for the longest quarterback win streak at the Seahawks. Purdy has proven he can perform under high-leverage, high-pressure situations. He’ll need to once more on Saturday.
Kyle Shanahan has not lost a game in his career when facing a team a second time within three weeks. He’s 3-0. He’s also 5-2 in games in which the Niners face a team they played within the previous month.
Shanahan and company face the Herculean task of taking down the No. 1 seed with arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL and the best run defense of this decade. Unlike the first two matchups against Seattle, George Kittle won’t be available.
The 49ers have won 67 percent of the games they’ve played with Kittle on the field since 2022. They are 22 games over .500, but just 5-6 in games where Kittle doesn’t play. The offensive production drops by nearly 4 points, while yards per play drop by a half yard.
Can San Francisco pull off their second upset in the playoffs against a better version of the team they played just six days ago? Can they do the improbable without their Hall of Fame tight end?
A low point in Week 18 was followed by the best passing performance against a Vic Fangio defense in two seasons.
In 2023, the 49ers faced Seattle in Week 12, traveled to Philadelphia, then played the Seahawks again in Week 14. Brock Purdy threw for 209 yards in the first matchup against Seattle that year. The Niners had a few explosive plays, but Purdy was held in check. Shanahan found something in the rematch, as Purdy threw for 368 yards, averaging 13.6 yards per attempt, and had six completions over 15 yards, including a pair of touchdowns.
Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, and George Kittle ain’t walking through that door. That trio had 351 combined yards, including gains of 54, 45, and 44 by each of them. That team was ridiculously talented. Kittle and Samuel were moving at different speeds.
The point of mentioning that game is that Shanahan saw something from the previous matchup and schemed up mismatches. Deebo ran by safety Jamal Adams for a 54-yard gain. He also had a 30-yarder against linebacker Bobby Wagner. Aiyuk had a 45-yarder against a safety and a 30-yard reception against a linebacker.
Of course, Mike MacDonald was still in Baltimore in 2023. Seattle’s rematch against the...
