Niners Nation
San Francisco may be without one of their top cornerbacks this weekend.
The San Francisco 49ers are preparing for their second matchup against the Seattle Seahawks this season, which comes on Sunday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium in a crucial game for both teams.
San Francisco, standing at 5-4, comes in on a two-game win streak needing a divisional win, as they’ve gone just 1-2 in the division thus far this year.
Seattle, on the other hand, is 4-5, having lost three of their last four games after a hot start to the year.
This has been a staple match for the 49ers over the past few seasons, as they’ve beaten the Seahawks in each of their last five matchups, with quarterback Geno Smith leading the charge in each of those games.
One of the keys has been finding a way to effectively shut down Seattle’s passing attack, despite the Seahawks having wide receivers DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.
Metcalf has often been shaded by top cornerback Charvarius Ward when the two teams play, but that may not be the case this weekend, as the veteran was not at practice on Thursday.
Metcalf is slated to make his return from injury this weekend, which could mean a shift in the 49ers’ defensive gameplan, as that could mean more attention from both Renardo Green and Deommodore Lenoir toward the star receiver.
How will the 49ers try and match the physicality that Metcalf provides on the boundary?
“DK probably outweighs almost every corner he goes against,” defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen said on Thursday. “I can’t imagine, probably half the linebackers too. But Dmo’s (Deommodore Lenoir) just, he’s tough. He’s strong, he’s stout. He plays that way whether it’s in coverage, which is tough because some guys at the top of the route can get pushed around and he generally has the ability to stay sticky to a guy, which is another thing that allows him to be able to play outside as well as inside, because he still has the quickness inside to go with being able to trigger in the run game, fight off blockers and go make tackles on bigger running backs. So that’s really the value, like I said, that Dmo brings, is being able to do both.”
Back in Week 6, Green notched his first career interception while defending Metcalf, cutting off an in-breaking route to secure the game-changing turnover. He could be tasked with defending the wideout once again on the outside, which will mean matching the physicality that Metcalf provides.
But, it could also mean a potential shift with more Lenoir on the outside to match with the star receiver, as the 49ers match up against Seattle’s trio of talented receivers.
Standing at 5-4, a win over Seattle would be significant, as it would jumpstart a tough three-game stretch that involves road matchups against the Green Bay Packers and Buffalo Bills in consecutive weeks. The 49ers will need to find a way to limit Metcalf as they...
