49ers vs. Seahawks: Standard’s quick predictions (paywall)
“Kawakami: Seahawks 23, 49ers 20. Will the 49ers put the same kind of mental and tactical 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 tougher stuff than the Eagles, and they have the same talent. The 49ers will have to play even better to win this game. And sometimes, the accumulation of injuries will mean that they will miss out on one player who could have changed the game.
Hutchinson preview: 49ers-Seahawks: So you’re telling me there’s a chance?
“The Seahawks offense is stuck in the mud. Sam Darnold turns the ball over more than any quarterback in the league, and he’s dealing with a knee injury that will be treated as *something* until proven otherwise (I don’t care how “empty” it is. It’s a quarterback starting to pick up an oblique injury two days earlier. Those hurt. Purdy can attest).
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The 49ers secondary impressed me last week. Deommodore Lenoir had a terrible 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 struggled to speak, and Dallas Goedert successfully attacked him more than once.
If the 49ers run Cover-4 against a very low concept designed to emphasize their small safeties, they should stop letting Mustapha carry anything underneath and have Sigle – whose speed raises the ceiling for this team – carry a direct threat. “
Kurtenbach: My 49ers-Seahawks prediction (part 3) – good start, bad finish (paywall)
“They’re going to attack Seattle’s flexible Cover 2 by going wide. Seattle’s offensive staff is not the same — they have more athleticism than the Niners’ offense — but as the Rams showed in Week 16, that arrogance leaves Seattle vulnerable to being overwhelmed.
The Niners can’t match the Rams’ three-pass sets; they don’t have bodies. But they can leave empty-handed. They can go four wide with McCaffrey bursting in and out again.
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Expect Brock Purdy to look like he’s back at Iowa State, playing Big 12 football — and throwing like a dart on the wide, intermediate routes they couldn’t find in Week 18 — to get off to a hot start.”
The 49ers’ best chance to crack the Seahawks’ defense hinges on the running game
“But the most troublesome player for the 49ers may be rookie hybrid safety Nick Emmanwori, the main reason McCaffrey has 23 yards and an average of 2.9 yards per attempt even though Seattle always protects their nickel, uses an extra cornerback, and plays a deep safety position.
Emmanwori, 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, is a second-round pick whose versatility helped Seattle limit McCaffrey while playing pass defense.
“He’s very big and long and has the ability to play the run at a very high level, like a high-level linebacker, but he also has the ability to run and he can cover,” offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak said. “He’s the champion of all traders. He lets them do that.”
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The big key for the 49ers offense is to avoid a repeat of Jan. 3? Kubiak made it clear: They need to run the ball well to get Seattle out of the nickel defense, which will create more opportunities for Purdy. “
Five 49ers to watch in a do-or-die divisional round game
“Sigle started the first seven games of the season before the 49ers settled on Malik Mustapha and Ji’Ayir Brown as the starters. The 49ers decided after the Week 5 game against the Los Angeles Rams to replace Sigle.
“After the Rams game, (I) felt like he needed to take a step back and take it easy, and now he’s getting an opportunity,” 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said. “Obviously, his first game went very well.”
Upton Stout recalls first NFL game in Seattle as 49ers prepare for playoffs
“I was nervous, but it was also like, ‘I have to do the job,'” Stout told NBC Sports Bay Area. [the] before the season. So it was like everything was moving fast.”
Stout had his eyes wide open, literally.
“I could see everything,” he said. “You know, like DB, when you see everything, you see too much.”
