{"id":649212,"date":"2026-01-02T22:58:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T22:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/649212\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T22:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T22:58:14","slug":"nfl-insider-names-x-factor-for-week-18-showdown-vs-seahawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/649212\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Insider names X-Factor for Week 18 showdown vs. Seahawks"},"content":{"rendered":"

The San Francisco 49ers<\/a> offense was firing on all cylinders in last Sunday night\u2019s 42-38 win over the Chicago Bears. San Francisco caught fire when Brock Purdy<\/a> returned from a turf toe injury, winning six straight games and improving to 12-4. Now the 49ers will face the Seattle Seahawks with the division title and the No. 1 seed on the line. But Trent Williams\u2019 hamstring injury<\/a> could be the difference<\/a> in the NFC West showdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the game plan is gonna be really contingent upon the availability of Trent Williams. I\u2019m not so sure he plays\u2026 coming off the hammy. And that is massive,\u201d Mina Kimes said, per NFL on ESPN. \u201cWe think of him as being so important, obviously, in pass protection. And we know how good this Seahawks four-man rush is\u2026 but to me, where his presence looms largest, is on the ground,\u201d Kimes noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they can\u2019t run the ball well, I think that\u2019s a problem. Because you don\u2019t want Brock constantly in drop-back situations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is the NFC’s No. 1 seed riding on Trent Williams\u2019 hamstring?\"SanMark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Purdy has played at an elite level<\/a> since his Week 11 return. And Christian McCaffrey reached the 2,000-scrimmage yard mark with 327 total yards and three touchdowns in the last two games.<\/p>\n

But Williams\u2019 availability could be pivotal to the 49ers\u2019 success on Sunday. The 15th-year veteran rebounded from an ankle injury that sidelined him for the final seven games last season. He\u2019s yet to miss a start this year. But Williams and George Kittle are questionable<\/a> for Week 18.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the beginning of 2024, when Trent Williams plays, the Niners average 4.6 yards per carry. Without him that drops to 4. That might not sound like a lot [but] that\u2019s the difference between the sixth- or seventh-best rushing attack in football and the 28th,\u201d Kimes added.<\/p>\n

The veteran tackle left the Bears game after the first play \u2013 a pick-six by T.J. Edwards. Austen Pleasants filled in for Williams<\/a> for the remainder of the Week 17 matchup. And the 49ers offense put up pinball numbers in the 12-time Pro Bowler\u2019s absence. But the Seahawks\u2019 stout defense presents a far more difficult challenge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Francisco 49ers offense was firing on all cylinders in last Sunday night\u2019s 42-38 win over the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":649213,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,2644,7,6,30382,1161,252,2624,2623,2983],"class_list":{"0":"post-649212","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-brock-purdy","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-nfl-injury","13":"tag-san-francisco","14":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","15":"tag-sanfrancisco","16":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers","17":"tag-trent-williams"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115827985937203912","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649212","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=649212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}