The 49ers are going to need some more magic to get the victory on Saturday.
The San Francisco 49ers are facing off against the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday in the NFC Divisional Round, hoping to make it back to the conference championship game after missing out with a down year in 2024.
The 49ers have had quite the year, battling through serious injuries en route to a 13-5 record, most recently beating the Philadelphia Eagles in the wildcard round of the playoffs last weekend.
Now, they’re back on the road, facing a team that just beat them pretty considerably two weeks ago, with their season on the line. How can the 49ers change their fortunes and pull off the victory this time around?
3rd downs
It all starts with third downs for the 49ers in this one. San Francisco was dominated on third downs in the game two weeks ago, and that allowed Seattle to fully control the pace of the game, wearing down the defense.
San Francisco was dominated in time of possession (37:48 vs. 22:12), and had the ball for only 10:40 of the first half as Seattle looked like it would cruise to a victory. Overall, the Seahawks had drives of 12, 10, 9, 11, and 16 plays, all possible by converting on third downs.
The Seahawks finished the game a respectable 6-of-13 on third downs. The 49ers were a paltry 2-of-9. That’s far different from their mark in the regular season, where they led the NFL in third down conversation rate at 49.8 percent.
Seattle, on the other hand, did better than their 39.8 percent regular-season rate, which ranked only 16th in the NFL.
The 49ers have to bridge the gap with time of possession. That doesn’t mean they need longer drives, but it’s hard to get explosives on this Seattle defense. It does mean that they need to be better on third down, though.
Run game
Offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak said it this week: the 49ers are going to have to run the ball. In Week 18, without Trent Williams, the Seahawks played a ton of two-high shells and were exclusively in nickel, daring the 49ers to run the ball. And San Francisco couldn’t do it.
The 49ers averaged just 3.2 yards per carry on first and second down, with their longest run from a running back being six yards. So they didn’t get any explosives and weren’t consistently moving the ball well at all on the ground. That essentially took out the running game for San Francisco with the inefficiency, making them one-dimensional offensively, which limited the offense.
The 49ers had been running the ball well in the weeks heading into Week 18, but they also struggled to do so in the wildcard round, with Christian McCaffrey going for just 48 yards on 15 carries. Something will have to change for San Francisco there.
They also need to be better at limiting Seattle’s run game. A big part of the time-of-possession battle was Seattle’s ability to run the ball well, especially early in the game. They ended up going for 180 yards on 4.6 yards per carry, and should’ve had more than 13 points in that game. The 49ers struggled against the run in the first half of the Philadelphia game last weekend, but they bottled up in the second half, which was a key part of the defensive turnaround.
They need to be better against Seattle, putting the ball in Sam Darnold’s hands more. That’s their best way to win on Saturday.
Brock Purdy
Ahead of the Week 18 game, with Ricky Pearsall and Trent Williams out, I had Brock Purdy and his ability to elevate those around him as a key for the game. The 49ers were going to be outmatched, so Purdy had to find a way to lift those around him to keep the offense going. And he couldn’t to the standard that the 49ers needed, as the passing game struggled to get going.
Last weekend, Purdy had two killer interceptions to Quinyon Mitchell, but he also impressively evaded the pass rush and created more plays for the 49ers, including on the go-ahead drive that ultimately won them the game.
This weekend, it’s going to be on Purdy to navigate an even tougher pass rush that teed off in Week 18 with a ton of pressure. The 49ers will have Williams and Pearsall back, but both won’t be fully healthy. Separation is an issue at wide receiver, and Purdy will no longer have George Kittle in the fold. The run game is a question mark after struggling the last two weeks.
So, for the 49ers to win this game, Purdy is going to need to step up under the bright lights because San Francisco is going to need some offense to get the victory.
Category: General Sports
