The San Francisco 49ers faced the Seattle Seahawks three times in 2025. Kyle Shanahan’s offense had 30 drives against Mike MacDonald’s defense. They scored two touchdowns.
In the first matchup, Ricky Pearsall had over 100 receiving yards, while Zach Charbonnet led Seattle in rushing. Neither player will be in uniform this Sunday.
In the second matchup, the 49ers’ leading receiver was Jauan Jennings. Cornerback Riq Woolen had a pass breakup. Those two are on different teams.
In the playoff matchup, Kenneth Walker ran for 116 yards, while Jake Tonges had a team-high in receiving for the Niners. Walker is with the Chiefs, while Tonges is on the injured reserve.
Having a WR1 like Mike Evans
Even in that Week 1 matchup, 45 of Pearsall’s 108 yards came on one play. Christian McCaffrey and Kyle Juszczyk each had 25-yard receptions. For the most part, the passing attack was held in check because, as they showed in the next two games, no wideout could consistently get open.
Mike Evans is seventh in the NFL in EPA per target and fifth in targeted success percentage. He’s what a true WR1 looks like. The only reason he’s seventh in Sumer Sports’ impact plays metric is because he’s only been targeted 24 times. For reference, the six receivers ahead of Evans have at least 39 targets.
Kyle Shanahan moves Evans around the formation enough that defenses can’t key in on him. That has led to incredible efficiency. Of Evans’ 17 receptions, 14 have resulted in either a first down or a touchdown.
The struggles against Seattle are why you go out and get a receiver of Evans’ caliber.
In Week 18, the 49ers wide receivers were Jauan Jennings, Kendrick Bourne, Demarcus Robinson, and Skyy Moore. It’s a completely different group this time around.
There’s speed around Evans, which has opened things up and allowed the 49ers to stretch the field both vertically and horizontally. Evans isn’t catching intermediate passes with Bourne or Jennings on the field, because teams like Seattle aren’t threatened deep.
Brock Purdy will also have George Kittle and Deebo Samuel, two players who weren’t available in the playoffs.
A little better at linebacker
In those final two matchups, the 49ers started two players who had signed to the roster as recently as Thanksgiving, plus Dee Winters. The fact that the Niners were so eager to move on from Winters this offseason, despite his rookie contract, tells us how they felt about him internally. Raheem Morris views Garret Wallow as a nickel linebacker, while Kendricks is 34.
There were plays where Seattle ran to the outside, and Kendricks, understandably, was a step slow. Wallow would get swallowed up, while Winters’ best work came on plays right at him or in coverage.
Quietly, the 49ers have been one of the best teams at defending outside zone — the Seahawks run some variation outside of the tackles 60% of the time. The Niners have allowed 3.7 yards per play on outside zone runs, with a -0.045 EPA per play. On 16 attempts, they’ve had nine defensive stops.
It’s been a mix-and-match of players on the edge. They’ve done their jobs, but Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw are winning the foot race when running backs try to beat them to the sideline.
In Week 18, Tatum Bethune and Winters combined for three missed tackles. Seattle torched Bethune in coverage, to the tune of 64 yards. Bethune allowed six of his seven targets to be completed. Wallow got lost on one play in coverage, leading to a critical first down.
It goes without saying that Warner will impact where Sam Darnold throws the ball. If he targets Warner seven times, Raheem Morris will take that all day. The upgrade at linebacker cannot be undersold heading into this matchup.
Interior pressure + an edge presence
Yetur Gross-Matos was the only player to generate interior pressure against the Seahawks during the regular season. In those three games, five defensive tackles recorded seven run stops and five missed tackles.
Let’s look at the past two games this season, since those are the defensive tackles who will play this week for the 49ers. Osa Odighizuwa has eight pressures. Gracen Halton and Sebastian Valdez have five impact plays. Naquan Jones has a couple of run stops and is holding his ground.
The four defensive tackles on the field this year are all upgrades from last year.
One of the most impressive areas from Week 3 was seeing the edge players play the run. Matt Judon played one snap, and it looked great. Romello Height is wiry strong, while Keion White has been a pleasant surprise.
The edge presence who didn’t play in the final two games is Mykel Williams. The 49ers’ run defense allowed a half-yard-per-play more with Mykel off the field last season. The first-down rate and EPA per play were marginally better.
What you can’t quantify is having a player his size going up against tight ends. Those are wins for Williams. Or having Mykel take on pulling blockers instead of your designated pass rushers, like Height.
Even if Williams plays only 30 snaps, you get to keep Height, Okoronkwo, and Khalid Kareem fresh. The domino effect of getting a first-rounder back has immense benefits for the Niners’ defense.