{"id":650404,"date":"2026-01-03T10:12:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T10:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/650404\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T10:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T10:12:13","slug":"49ers-news-game-day-niners-nation-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/650404\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers News: GAME DAY\u00a0 | Niners Nation"},"content":{"rendered":"

49ers vs. Seahawks: The Standard\u2019s 5 fast predictions (paywall)<\/a>
\u201cKawakami: 49ers 23, Seahawks 20. In contrast to the 49ers\u2019 last few games, field position and field goals should be enormous in this game. Nobody\u2019s likely to put up 400 yards. There won\u2019t be 10 huge plays; maybe just two or three. And presuming George Kittle is back, I\u2019ll presume that the 49ers\u2019 offense will make the most of him and their defense will jump the Seahawks\u2019 running game and force a Darnold turnover late to seal it.\u201c<\/p>\n

49ers\u2019 pass rush doomed Seattle in Week 1. Now Seahawks look to exploit it (paywall)<\/a>
\u201cSaleh said opposing play-callers are dialing up \u201cdeeper developing\u201d pass plays that wouldn\u2019t have had time to work against QB-harassing defenses from the 49ers\u2019 recent past. Chicago QB Caleb Williams wasn\u2019t sacked on his 42 passes and had time to fling touchdown throws of 35 and 36 yards\u2026..Of course, the 49ers\u2019 biggest weakness hasn\u2019t prevented them from achieving a 12-4 record and entering Levi\u2019s Stadium on Saturday on a six-game winning streak.<\/p>\n

But their inability to disrupt quarterbacks figures to be a bigger problem against Seattle\u2019s Sam Darnold, who is just the second QB the 49ers have faced this season who ranks among the NFL\u2019s top 14 in passer rating. Darnold, who is ranked 10th, has an elite partner for deeper-developing pass plays in Jaxon Smith-Njigba.<\/p>\n

Smith-Njigba ranks fourth in the NFL in catches (113), first in receiving yards (1,709) and 10th in yards per catch (15.1).\u201c<\/p>\n

Five 49ers to watch in crucial regular-season showdown vs. Seahawks in Week 18 (paywall)<\/a>
\u201cHuff stands as the 49ers\u2019 best hope to generate a consistent pass rush with his ability to win one-on-one matchups. He must exploit the Seahawks\u2019 issues at left tackle. Starter Charles Cross is out with a hamstring injury, and top backup Josh Jones is questionable with knee and ankle issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

NFL insider doubts 49ers\u2019 Trent Williams will play vs. Seahawks<\/a>
\u201c\u201cAbsolutely,\u201d Kittle said.<\/p>\n

Still, NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport cautioned that Kittle\u2019s status ultimately rests with the coaching staff, which must balance his health against postseason availability. Kittle has been a limited participant in practice throughout the week.<\/p>\n

Although general manager John Lynch expressed confidence this week, saying he would be \u201cvery surprised if George wasn\u2019t out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams\u2019 outlook appears far less certain.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrent Williams, their Pro Bowl left tackle\u2014one of the best left tackles of, well, not just this year, but really the last decade\u2014he is officially listed as questionable,\u201d Rapoport said, \u201cbut he hasn\u2019t practiced at all this week, dealing with a hamstring injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cHard to imagine he is out there with no practice on a short week. I guess crazier things have happened, but to me, I\u2019m not expecting the big man to be out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Austen Pleasants gets tough love after replacing Trent Williams: \u2018Wasn\u2019t quite what we wanted\u2019 (paywall)<\/a>
\u201cSomebody ran up to me and said, \u2018First down! Let\u2019s go!\u2019\u201d Pleasants recalled. \u201cAnd I was like, \u2018Alright,\u2019 and I just ran in.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s part of the challenge, Foerster said.<\/p>\n

Not only have the Seahawks had six days to study Pleasants, but Pleasants has had time to think about the task ahead of him. And while the Bears have one of the league\u2019s flimsiest defenses, the Seahawks are a top-five unit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny,\u201d Foerster said. \u201cYou throw a guy into the middle of a game, and he plays OK sometimes. But then he has a whole week to think about it, a whole week to prepare, a whole week to study tape, and he\u2019s not as good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Foerster noted that the 49ers didn\u2019t have to change their game plan or their protections when Pleasants replaced Williams.<\/p>\n

At one point, Shanahan turned to Foerster on the sideline to ask about the six-year journeyman.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s doing good, right? He\u2019s not doing poorly?\u201d Shanahan asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, he\u2019s doing fine,\u201d Foerster replied.<\/p>\n

Said Foerster: \u201cHe has ability. That\u2019s why he\u2019s still here. But can he sustain it over time? Well, that\u2019s what we have to see.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"49ers vs. Seahawks: The Standard\u2019s 5 fast predictions (paywall)\u201cKawakami: 49ers 23, Seahawks 20. In contrast to the 49ers\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,52307,7,6,1161,252,1137,2624,2623],"class_list":{"0":"post-650404","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-49ers-links","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-san-francisco","13":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","14":"tag-san-francisco-49ers-news","15":"tag-sanfrancisco","16":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115830636214106296","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650404","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=650404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}