{"id":645932,"date":"2026-01-01T16:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T16:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/645932\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T16:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T16:42:13","slug":"seahawks-offense-can-exploit-49ers-run-defense-in-nfc-west-matchup-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/645932\/","title":{"rendered":"Seahawks offense can exploit 49ers’ run defense in NFC West matchup"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANTA CLARA \u2014 The 49ers<\/a> don\u2019t come to mind when assessing the NFL\u2019s top rushing defenses.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve given ground at 4.3 yards per carry in an area where the term \u201cstout\u201d isn\u2019t used until it gets below 4.0.<\/p>\n

But the last two games, wins over Indianapolis<\/a> and Chicago<\/a>, came against teams that figured to challenge the 49ers at the line of scrimmage and impose their will. The Colts had Jonathan Taylor, the NFL\u2019s No. 2 rusher with 1,559 yards. The Bears had one of the league\u2019s top 1-2 punches with D\u2019Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, who have combined for 1,816 yards.<\/p>\n

Neither team gashed the 49ers with the run, but mostly because they didn\u2019t try. The Colts seemed intent on proving 44-year-old Philip Rivers could exploit the 49ers\u2019 deficiencies defending the pass, and to an extent he succeeded until the game got out of hand. Taylor gained 47 yards on 16 carries.<\/p>\n

The Bears averaged 5.0 yards per carry but only ran the ball 22 times. When faced with the 49ers\u2019 porous secondary and minimal pass rush, Caleb Williams threw 42 passes (completing 25 for 330 yards) even though Chicago never trailed by more than seven points.<\/p>\n

Instead of looking to control the line of scrimmage in the most basic way possible, both teams aired it out. The temptation to throw and throw again was too great and it contributed to a pace of play and style of game that benefitted the 49ers and coach Kyle Shanahan.<\/p>\n

Now come the Seattle Seahawks (13-3), who will visit the 49ers<\/a> (12-4) with the NFC West title, the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye on the line Saturday night at Levi\u2019s Stadium.<\/p>\n

Seattle, like Chicago, has its own 1-2 punch in Kenneth Walker III (930 yards on 205 carries, five touchdowns) and Zach Charbonnet (656 yards on 167 carries and 11 touchdowns. Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak is the brother of 49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak and was on Shanahan\u2019s staff in 2023.<\/p>\n

Will Klint Kubiak, under the direction of defensive-minded coach Mike Macdonald, be so tempted to throw against the 49ers that he abandons the run like Chicago did? He should be less inclined to be drawn into a score-for-score game based on his knowledge of how the 49ers operate.<\/p>\n

Klint Kubiak is well-schooled in the Shanahan philosophy hoping to get 30 or more rushing plays in a game because it usually means controlling the gameplay, the clock and the outcome. Don\u2019t be surprised if he uses that run discipline against the 49ers.<\/p>\n

\"SeattleSeattle running back Zach Charbonnet gained 110 yards in the Seahawks Week 17 win over Carolina.\u00a0AP Photo<\/p>\n

In the Seahawks\u2019 27-10 win over Carolina last week, they ran it 36 times for 163 yards. Charbonnet had a season-high 18 carries for 110 yards and two touchdowns and Walker 51 yards on 15 attempts. The week prior, Seattle had 171 yards on 25 carries including a 55-yard touchdown burst by Walker in a 38-37 win over the Los Angeles Rams.<\/p>\n

In what could be wet and sloppy conditions, Seattle could come out looking to push the 49ers around. They\u2019re on a roll with the run and there\u2019s no proof the 49ers are capable of stopping it.<\/p>\n

Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh likens Walker and Charbonnet to Chicago\u2019s tandem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is definitely different play styles, but two very effective backs,\u201d Saleh said.\u201dCharbonnet is probably more one-cut, where Kenneth can absolutely embarrass you running away from you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 49ers have averaged 136 yards rushing per game over their six-game winning streak. The Seahawks have also gone in fits and starts with the run until the last two games.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve just stuck to our process and really believe what we\u2019re doing,\u201d Macdonald told reporters Wednesday. \u201cLet\u2019s go stick at it and iron this thing out and keep attacking it and hopefully it will come to life at some point. We\u2019re still not there. Things aren\u2019t going to go your way after a couple of weeks and all of a sudden you turn into a different type of team. That\u2019s not the way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sam Okuayinonu, a defensive end who is one of the 49ers\u2019 better run defenders, said he won\u2019t be too conscious of which back is in the game for Seattle even if their different styles might indicate plays which benefit either Walker or Charbonnet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of hard to look at a game like that,\u201d Okuayinonu said. \u201cThey\u2019ve got two different backs, but you\u2019ve got to set an edge and next up and make a play regardless of who is back there. I think that\u2019s what it really comes down to, doing your assignment regardless of who is back there. Engage the offensive lineman, shut off the block and tackle him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only two running backs have gained more than 100 yards against the 49ers this season: Jacksonville\u2019s Travis Etienne (19 carries, 124 yards, one touchdown) and Tennessee\u2019s Tony Pollard (104 yards on 14 carries). In a 20-10 win over Atlanta in their first game without middle linebacker Fred Warner, the 49ers held the Falcons\u2019 Bijan Robinson to 40 yards on 14 carries.<\/p>\n

But there have been instances of the 49ers giving too much ground and paying the price with losses. The Jaguars ran 32 times for 151 yards and beat the 49ers 26-21. Houston ran 36 times for 157 yards and won 26-15.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time you take a run game away from a team and make it one-dimensional, it\u2019s going to be pretty good for your team,\u201d Okuayinonu said. \u201cI\u2019m pretty proud of the guys the way we\u2019ve been handling these last few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Seahawks could decide to muscle up on the 49ers Saturday night, with the No. 1 seed hanging in the balance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SANTA CLARA \u2014 The 49ers don\u2019t come to mind when assessing the NFL\u2019s top rushing defenses. They\u2019ve given…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":645933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,7,9295,2812,2860,6,6043,1161,252,2624,2623,261,12062],"class_list":{"0":"post-645932","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-49ers","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-kenneth-walker-iii","11":"tag-kyle-shanahan","12":"tag-mike-macdonald","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-robert-saleh","15":"tag-san-francisco","16":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","17":"tag-sanfrancisco","18":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers","19":"tag-seattle-seahawks","20":"tag-zach-charbonnet"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115820845401121380","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=645932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}