Key Matchups to Watch as Seattle Seahawks Face San Francisco 49ers in Week 6

Aside from the obvious providing extra support for blocking Nick Bosa, the Seahawks will have to contain Jordan Mason on defense after back-to-back losses.

Dec 15, 2022; Seattle, Washington, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa (97) sacks Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) during the fourth quarter at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Rivalry games always raise the stakes in the NFL, but for the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers, Thursday's latest contest between NFC West foes carries more significance than usual despite the season still being relatively young in mid-October.

After opening the season with three straight wins, the Seahawks find themselves finding a two-game losing streak, and though they still sit in first place, a sixth straight loss to the 49ers would drop them to second in the division at minimum. As for San Francisco, coach Kyle Shanahan's squad has lost two games against Los Angeles and Arizona where it held a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and losing on Thursday night would drop their record to an unthinkable 2-4 following a Super Bowl berth in February.

Which matchups will have the greatest impact on which bitter rival earns a victory in prime time at Lumen Field? Here are six positional battles to watch as the Seahawks and 49ers spar on Thursday Night Football:

--Seahawks tackles Charles Cross and Stone Forsythe versus 49ers defensive ends Nick Bosa and Leonard Floyd: Since entering the NFL in 2019, Bosa has been a thorn in the Seahawks' side, most recently producing 17 pressures and 4.5 sacks in two meetings between the two rivals last season. Dating back to the 2021 season, in six regular season matchups, he has tortured Seattle's tackles and quarterbacks alike, tallying 8.5 sacks, 21 quarterback hits, and seven tackles for loss. Last December, he sacked Geno Smith 2.5 times, picking up one going against both Cross and injured starter Abraham Lucas.

With Lucas still on the PUP list, Forsythe will be tasked with trying to deal with Bosa, which doesn't bode well for the Seahawks based on past precedent. The fourth-year tackle started the first game between these rivals last year in Santa Clara and gave up five pressures and two sacks, struggling to protect Geno Smith while seeing extensive reps against the superstar pass rusher. Interestingly, however, after checking in as a reliever in a home game in 2021, he held up well in limited snaps against Bosa, not giving up a pressure on six pass blockings reps. Providing extra support for whoever lines up opposite of Bosa to prevent him from destroying the game plan on his own will be imperative for Seattle to have any shot at winning on Thursday night.

--Seahawks linebackers Tyrel Dodson and Jerome Baker versus 49ers running back Jordan Mason: Making just their third start together last week against the Giants, Dodson and Baker weren't consistent executing their run fits, which led to big creases for Tyrone Tracy to run through to a tune of 175 rushing yards in the disappointing upset loss. They will have to be on their A-game communication wise on Thursday night, making sure they are on the same page with the rest of the defense and understanding where they need to attack to ensure such gaps aren't left gaping wide open against a 49ers squad that historically has excelled at creating those opportunities for their running backs.

Case in point? Even with star Christian McCaffrey sidelined by an Achilles injury, Mason ranks second in the NFL in rushing yards, second in 20-plus yard runs, and fifth in rushing first downs, thriving in Kyle Shanahan's back-friendly scheme behind a solid offensive line. A more physical, downhill style back than McCaffrey, Mason leads the NFL in yards after contact (340) and missed tackles forced (25), so Seattle's linebackers will not only have to do a much better job executing run fits, but they better be ready to wrap up or else San Francisco will have a field day racking up extra yardage, which would be a recipe for disaster on Thursday night.

--Seahawks tight ends Noah Fant, AJ Barner, and Pharoah Brown versus 49ers safeties Ji'Ayir Brown and Malik Mustapha: Statistically, the 49ers have fared quite well against tight ends this season, ranking 11th in receptions allowed and fifth in receiving yards allowed to the position. However, they have given up two touchdowns to tight ends and compared to their previous five opponents, the Seahawks will present far more challenges in coverage dealing with receivers DK Metcalf, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Tyler Lockett. Minus injured All-Pro Talanoa Hufanga, Brown and Mustapha have each surrendered a touchdown in coverage, with including Mustapha allowing a score to Patriots tight end Austin Hooper in Week 4.

Considering Seattle's talented receiving corps, the pressure will fall on Brown and Mustapha to handle one-on-one coverage against Fant and Barner, who have combined to catch 20 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown so far. Though they haven't been a big part of Ryan Grubb's passing game to this point, the two players have been more productive in recent weeks, suggesting that the new play caller has started to figure out how to implement them as complementary targets. In a game where getting the ball out of Smith's hands quickly will be critical, the tight ends could be viable options to move the chains and potentially do damage down the seam on Thursday night.

--Seahawks outside linebackers Boye Mafe, Derick Hall, and Dre'Mont Jones versus 49ers tackles Trent Williams and Colton McKivitz: Remaining the strength of San Francisco's offensive line, Williams and McKivitz have played well in the first five games, though they haven't necessarily been dominant in pass protection. Both tackles have allowed at least 11 pressures, while McKivitz ranks second in the NFL with five quarterback hits allowed, so opponents have been able to find some success rushing off the edge against the 49ers. Where they could create the most problems for the Seahawks, however, lies in the run game, where they each rank in the top 11 in PFF's run blocking grades so far and have been especially effective on zone schemes.

Losing Uchenna Nwosu after playing only 20 snaps in his season debut could spell doom for the Seahawks in that regard. He's their best edge defender against the run, and with both Mafe and Hall to play at less than 100 percent and Jones struggling at times this year, the 49ers will be looking to take advantage by running off tackle as much as possible. If Seattle wants to combat that, it may be worth a look plugging 6-5, 300-pound Mike Morris into the lineup off the edge, a position he previously played at Michigan. His length and physicality could pay dividends setting the edge against this particular opponent in a rotational role.

--Seahawks running backs Ken Walker III and Zach Charbonnet versus 49ers linebackers Fred Warner and DeVondre Campbell: After only giving his running backs the ball a grand total of seven times on Sunday, Grubb accepted the blame for not running the ball more often against the Giants, and he can't afford to dial up that one-dimensional of an offensive game plan against the 49ers. Walker hasn't had much luck against San Francisco in the past, failing to run for more than 47 yards in any of his three previous regular season matchups against them. He did have success in the wild card round two years ago, however, rushing for 63 yards and a touchdown, and he won't be facing the same caliber defense from the past few years either.

While Warner has continued to play at an All-Pro level this season, San Francisco's losses along the defensive line, including releasing Arik Armstead and losing Javon Hargrave to a season-ending injury, have left the team vulnerable in the middle. Campbell also has struggled with missed tackles replacing an injured Dre Greenlaw, currently ranking second on the team with six missed tackles in five games. As a result of those issues, they rank 21st in the NFL in yards allowed per carry, nearly 10 spots lower than a year ago, so finding traction on the ground should be possible for the Seahawks if they stick with it early to take some pressure off of Smith and the offensive line.

--Seahawks cornerbacks Devon Witherspoon, Tre Brown, and Nehemiah Pritchett versus 49ers receivers Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, and Jauan Jennings: At full strength, this would maybe be the most compelling matchup on either side of the football with the Seahawks having one of the best young cornerback groups in the NFL and the 49ers having a dynamic trifecta of wideouts catching passes from Brock Purdy. But an ankle injury will keep Riq Woolen on the sidelines on Thursday night, pushing the advantage into San Francisco's favor with either Pritchett making his first career NFL start or veteran Artie Burns stepping into the lineup off the practice squad. Both of those options present substantial drop offs in talent that Shanahan can try to exploit.

Athletically, Pritchett ran a 4.36 40-yard dash coming out of Auburn, so he has the wheels necessary to keep up with a speedster of Aiyuk or Samuel's caliber. However, he has just 12 defensive snaps under his belt and while he did break up a pass last week, he also got burned in coverage by Darius Slayton and was fortunate Daniel Jones overthrew the receiver in the end zone. As for Burns, he has started nearly 40 games in the league, but he still hasn't logged many regular season snaps in the slot and facing off against Samuel and Aiyuk could be a major mismatch for him inside. Add in Jennings' size and catch radius against Brown and Witherspoon and this may be a matchup now favoring the 49ers in prime time.