Sourdough Sam
Well-known member
- Mar 20, 2019
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First Down: Biggest Storyline Heading into Week 8
@KeianaMartinTV – Can the 49ers Offense Exploit a Struggling Seattle Defense
Despite being handed their first loss of the season, Seattle's offense is rolling while averaging a league-leading 425.2 yards per game through six contests. Their season has been spearheaded by Russell Wilson, who is having an MVP-caliber season in Year 9 (more on that later). But Seattle's defense is singing a completely different tune.
The Seahawks defense is giving up nearly 500 yards per game to opposing offenses. Seattle's D is currently on pace to have the worst total defense (479.2 yards per game) and pass defense (368.7 yards per game) in the Super Bowl era.
Additionally, their defense continues to struggle getting off the field, allowing opponents to convert on nearly 50 percent of their third down tries, the eighth-worst mark in the league.
It doesn't help that All-Pro safety Jamal Adams has missed the last four weeks with a groin injury, with signs indicating that he'll be out again on Sunday. Additionally, starting defensive end Benson Mayowa (ankle), starting cornerback Shaquill Griffin (concussion, hamstring) and starting nickelback Ugochukwu Amadi (hamstring) are likely to be sidelined in Week 8 as well.
The 49ers might be without a number of playmakers on offense, but Kyle Shanahan continues to prove that he is an offensive wizard with his ability to plug-and-play and put his players in the best position to succeed.
Four of six quarterbacks have surpassed 425 total yards against Seattle so far this season. The 49ers have yet to truly unleash Jimmy Garoppolo's arm and Sunday could be the day. Shanahan is probably somewhere licking his chops and drawing up plays as we speak.
@SportsAnthony – Seattle Litmus Test
When I saw the first half of the 49ers schedule I foolishly thought, "Oh, they'll be 7-0 heading into Seattle." The best laid plans of mice and men, I guess.
Through the first seven games the 49ers are 4-3. A disaster if you were looking at the schedule back in the spring, a miracle considering the myriad of injuries San Francisco's sustained through the first two months of the season. But given all that's happened from schedule release to Halloween, there has unfortunately been one constant, Seattle is still good. The Seahawks are 5-1 and the No. 2 seed in the NFC heading into Week 8. While the only conclusive thing anyone can say about the injury-plagued 2020 49ers is that they are certainly not the 2019 49ers.
The wire-to-wire win against the now 5-2 Rams two weeks ago on Sunday night and a blowout win against Bill Belichick and the Patriots have washed out the taste of the 26-point home thumping against the Dolphins three weeks ago. And while Seattle seems like the better team (the Seahawks are 3-point favorites and have a 50.3 percent chance of winning according to ESPN.com), I'm more interested in how San Francisco fares as opposed to the actual result.
Last week my biggest storyline was trying to figure out which team the 49ers really are. They let us know with a resounding win in New England. This week I'm interested to see how the Niners compete against one of the NFL's best. This season seems snake-bit, the 49ers have at one point or another been without their top cornerback (Richard Sherman), edge rusher (Nick Bosa), quarterback (Garoppolo), wide receiver (Deebo Samuel), tight end (George Kittle) and running back (Raheem Mostert). Yet they've persevered and are over .500 nearly halfway through the season.
They've shown they can tread water, now let's see if they can swim with the sharks.
Second Down: Seahawks Player the 49ers MUST Stop
@KeianaMartinTV – Russell Wilson… obviously
I'm going with the obvious answer here. Like a fine wine, Russell Wilson apparently continues to get better with time, and that's not great news for the rest of the NFC West. Shanahan said this week that Russell Wilson has been so good that it seems like the game is moving in "slow motion for him." Two of the prime beneficiaries of his slow-motion computation of the game are Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf. The receiving duo are two of four players in the entire NFL with over 500 yards receiving and five-plus touchdowns so far in 2020.
Through six games played, Wilson owns a 119.5-average passer rating, the highest of any quarterback since Aaron Rodgers in 2011 (122.5). He's also completing an average of 71.2 passes, a career high, and is on pace to throw 58 passing touchdowns which would be a single-season NFL record. While on the topic, 10 percent of Wilson's throws have resulted in touchdowns, the highest rate by any qualified quarterback in a season in the Super Bowl era.
Couple that with his ability with his legs. Last week against the Cardinals, Wilson was the night's leading rusher with 84 yards on six attempts. The quarterback has 237 yards on the ground through six games, 86 yards shy of Seahawks lead back Chris Carson (who is questionable heading into Sunday).
The numbers and stats go on and on as Seattle's quarterback continues his MVP campaign. But finding a way to limit a threat like Wilson is a tough, yet not impossible task for San Francisco (see Fourth Down).
@SportsAnthony – DK Metcalf
I was watching the latest Harley Quinn movie last week and there's a scene where (SPOILER ALERT) a child pickpocket steals a diamond and in an effort to hide it, swallows said diamond. A couple of scenes later she tells Harley she ate the diamond and as soon as I was thinking, "They're going to get Ex-Lax," the scene cut to Harley and the kid at a supermarket buying Ex-Lax.
I point all of this out to say that I am in no way clairvoyant (I incorrectly predicted JaMycal Hasty would get the majority of carries last week WHEN the bulk of the rushes went to Jeff Wilson Jr.) but that it seemed like lazy storytelling.
The Ex-Lax for this question is fittingly Russell Wilson. You know I'm going to pick Russell Wilson. You expect me to pick Russell Wilson. But we're not going into the Ex-Lax aisle of the supermarket for this question. I'm going somewhere else.
DK Metcalf.
Earlier this season, Wilson said that he and DK could be the new "Montana/Rice," which are certainly fighting words around these parts. Heresy aside, it's clear the two have a connection. If you throw away Sunday night's game in Arizona where Metcalf only caught five balls for 23 yards, DK's had over six receptions for 90+ yards in every game. He's tied for fifth in the NFL with five TD catches and he leads the entire NFL at 21.6 yards per reception.
And the 49ers don't just have to watch out for DK when he has the ball, they have to worry about him in the event they secure a takeaway. DK's chase-down tackle of Budda Baker after a Wilson INT last week got the meme treatment. It's bad enough Metcalf is one of the best young wide receivers in the game, he might make a 49ers defender internet famous as well.