Enemy Confidential: Seahawks Open NFC West Play Against Healthy, Physical 49ers

Still one of the best rivalries in the sport, Seattle and San Francisco will tangle for the first time in 2021 already facing a bit of urgency in the league's best division. Though they're winning in a different way than year's past, the 49ers are a well-coached squad that presents a number of challenges for opponents on both sides of the ball.

Kicking off NFC West divisional play, the Seahawks will travel south to face the 49ers for the first time in 2021 as both teams aim to bounce back from difficult losses in Week 3.

Rebounding nicely from a season marred by injuries to key players, including defensive end Nick Bosa and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco has opened the season with a 2-1 record and narrowly missed out on staying undefeated a week ago. After taking the lead inside 40 seconds to play, Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers orchestrated a rapid fire scoring drive and Mason Crosby connected on a game-winning field goal as time expired to send the home team its first defeat.

While the 49ers have started off on a better note than last year, particularly on the injury front, they aren't necessarily winning in the same ways they did two years ago on the way to a Super Bowl berth behind a dominant defense. Now coordinated by former Texans linebacker Demeco Ryans, they currently rank 16th in scoring defense and 16th and 23rd overall in passing and rushing yardage respectively.

But with Garoppolo still under center while rookie Trey Lance waits in the wings, despite the run game not being near as effective as prior seasons, they have been very efficient on offense with coach Kyle Shanahan calling the shots, ranking ninth in scoring, first in red zone touchdown percentage, and seventh in third down conversion rate. Their best performance came in the season opener when they lit up the Lions on the road for 41 points.

While the opponent may be getting it done a bit differently, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll knows his team is in for a dog fight as they try to snap a two-game losing skid and stay in the NFC West race against a familiar team with loads of talent on offense and defense.

"The 49ers have looked really good, they played and all but won the game last week and have done it on both sides of the football. They have been effective on both sides of the ball," Carroll said on Wednesday. "Their marquee guys have been showing up and making a difference. They are playing good ball so it’s a really difficult matchup for us and for anybody. We have to make sure that we have a great week, prepare, be right, be on it, and do all of the stuff that we need to do to put together a great plan."

As the two bitter rivals prepare to square off once again with much at stake in the NFL's most competitive division, here’s a closer look at the Seahawks upcoming Week 4 opponent, including series history, additions/departures, key numbers, and coach Pete Carroll’s evaluation of the 49ers.

Series History

45th regular season meeting. The Seahawks have dominated the series, winning 27 of the previous 44 regular season matchups while also beating the 49ers in the 2013 NFC Championship Game.

Since that playoff game seven years ago, Seattle has won 12 of the previous 14 games between the two rivals, including sweeping last year's season series with home and away victories over San Francisco. The 49ers last victory in the series came in December 2019 when they edged the Seahawks 26-21 at Lumen Field and kept tight end Jacob Hollister out of the end zone in the closing seconds to clinch an NFC West title. San Francisco's longest win streak in the series was four games from 2010 to 2012, while Seattle won 10 straight from 2014 to 2018.

What's New

Departures: San Francisco's biggest loss came on the coaching staff, as heralded defensive coordinator Robert Saleh was hired as the New York Jets new head coach and took several assistants with him. Defensively, the team underwent significant changes in the secondary, allowing veteran cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Akhello Witherspoon to walk in free agency. Along the defensive line, former first-round pick Solomon Thomas departed to join the Raiders, while Kerry Hyder changed teams within the division to sign with the Seahawks. On offense, receiver Michael Bourne bolted for New England and running back Tevin Coleman followed Saleh to New York.

Additions: The 49ers' most significant splash came weeks before draft weekend when general manager John Lynch packaged multiple first rounders to trade up to No. 3 overall with the Dolphins. While speculation ran rampant about the team's interest in Alabama quarterback Mac Jones, they instead took South Dakota state star quarterback Trey Lance as the eventual heir apparent for Garoppolo. Upgrading the interior of its offensive line to protect whoever was under center, San Francisco signed Pro Bowl center Alex Mack. Meanwhile, to help replace Sherman and Witherspoon, former All-Pro Josh Norman was signed before the start of the regular season, while ex-Rams linebacker Samson Ebukam was signed to a two-year deal.

Injury Report

After a physical game with the Packers, the 49ers have a few notable injuries to monitor heading into this weekend. Most notably, tight end George Kittle missed practice on Wednesday and Thursday with a calf issue, former first-round pick Javon Kinlaw sat out both practices, and Norman also didn't participate recovering from bruised lungs suffered in Sunday's defeat. Rookie running back Elijah Mitchell remained in a blue non-contact jersey and his status remains up in the air.

Inside The Scheme

With one of the few remaining true fullbacks in the NFL in Kyle Juszczyk, the 49ers used two-back personnel groupings (446 snaps) more than any other team in the NFL. That trend has continued into the new season, with the Ravens being the only team in the league that has ran more snaps with two backs on the field. In contrast to much of the league, they have only ran 43 percent of their snaps out of 11 personnel with three receivers and one running back.

Coming from his father Mike Shanahan's coaching tree, Kyle Shanahan still calls outside zone more than any other run concept. But during his four seasons at the helm, he has slowly mixed in more power and counter "gap" concepts to further diversify the rushing attack. In fact, per Pro Football Focus, they finished in the top 10 in power and counter run rate in 2020 and the Seahawks should expect a steady dose of both in this upcoming rematch.

With Saleh at the helm, the 49ers heavily favored Cover 3 and quarters coverage looks out of their base defense on early downs and didn't blitz much in those situations. But in obvious passing situations when playing nickel or dime packages, they deployed more Cover 1 looks with man underneath and also were far more aggressive with the blitz, sending five or more defenders after the quarterback on third down at the third-highest rate. They finished in the top 10 in EPA on all downs.

Through three games under Demeco Ryans, who replaced Saleh, the 49ers haven't changed much in regards to coverage. They are still using Cover 3 single-high looks and quarters primarily on early downs and remain one of the least aggressive teams blitzing, as they've sent extra defenders only 18 percent of their snaps per Pro Football Reference. Unlike the past two years, however, they haven't been able to generate as consistent of pressure with four man rushes.

By The Numbers

7: Passes of 20-plus yards, tied for sixth-fewest in the NFL

11: Different players who have scored on San Francisco’s 11 offensive touchdowns

3.6: Yards per carry by 49er running backs, fifth-worst rate in the NFL

100: Red zone touchdown percentage, first in the league

47: Third down conversion rate, seventh-highest among 32 teams

4: Passes of 40-plus yards surrendered, second-most in NFL

17: Tackles for loss, third-most in the league

4.7: Yards per carry given up against run, fourth-highest rate among NFL teams

70: Red zone touchdown percentage for opponents, sixth-worst in the NFL

20: Quarterback pressures, fifth-fewest in the league

5: Percent sack rate, ranked 21st in the NFL

Carroll's Thoughts

--On how Jimmy Garoppolo has responded after the 49ers drafted Trey Lance: "I think like a real competitor, he hasn’t backed off at all. I thought he dealt with it really well, any time you guys would ask him his comments and feelings about it, he handled it really well. He welcomed the asset to the team. I don’t know if you guys remember this but way back when Joe Montana started, it happens to be the 49ers, but Coach [Bill] Walsh used Joe on third downs and red zone type situations so there’s a little something there. I think Jimmy has handled it really well and is playing good football. He put them in position to win three football games right out of the shoes.”

--On the impact of do-it-all fullback Kyle Juszczyk on San Francisco's offense: “He’s absolutely rare, there’s nobody else like him. They line up with two backs, a tight end, two wide receivers, and they can play in any personnel that you can put up with the looks, concepts, and the principles. Three-wide and a tight end, two tight ends and two backs, two tight ends, one back, and one receiver, they do all of it. For them it just rolls off their style of play and it’s a big issue. It’s different when you see the guys run on the field and they have a different personnel group, you know that personnel group represents a style of play, and you defend it accordingly. When you don’t know, you have to wait and see. He’s really a very, very important part of their offense and he’s really good.”

--On the star turn taken by receiver Deebo Samuel: “He’s really become a special part of their team. I really see him as the star player for them. They utilize him in a fashion where they are always looking to get him the football, positioning him to make the plays, and counting on him to do the things that he’s done well. They really have used him well in the sense that you can see what he has that’s unique. He’s really physical, he’s fast enough to run away from guys, and he’s got a great competitive streak about him. Between he and [George] Kittle, those two guys in getting them the ball, that’s a lot of fire power in maybe a less traditional way than we would think. Those guys are all explosive and they make big things happen.”