The season opener is officially one day away, as the San Francisco 49ers will take on the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1, with kickoff slated for 1:05 p.m. at Lumen Field.
The 49ers are sporting a much different team from a season ago, although many of their top stars still remain. But, they are transitioning to a much younger team as they look to depend on an 11-man 2025 draft class.
Seattle, on the other hand, retooled their roster this offseason, trading away quarterback Geno Smith and D.K. Metcalf,
while signing Sam Darnold and Cooper Kupp in free agency. They also fired offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb and replaced him with Klint Kubiak, who is familiar with the 49ers offense.
The 49ers split the season with Seattle a season ago, winning back in Week 6 on the road before dropping a 20-17 game in Week 11 at home. That Week 6 victory was their lone division win in 2024.
How can the 49ers get off to a good start in 2025? Here are three keys to winning for San Francisco against Seattle.
Get Pressure on Sam
Sam Darnold was a nice surprise for the Minnesota Vikings last season under head coach Kevin O’Connell, leading them to 14 wins.
However, Darnold still had glimpses of his past, especially under pressure, where he completed just 50.5 percent of his passes and had a turnover-worthy play rate of 3.8 percent.
Moreover, the quarterback had a 21.7 percent pressure-to-sack ratio, getting taken down 57 times last season.
Darnold has a high turnover-worthy play rate in general, but speeding up his processing with pressure could result in a takeaway or two, which always comes handy in division games.
Get off the field on 3rd downs
A big reason for the 49ers’ defensive woes in 2024 was their inability to get off the field on third downs.
San Francisco was 24th in the NFL last year, allowing opponents to convert 43.1 percent of third downs, while Seattle was high up at 10th.
Under Mike Macdonald, the Seahawks will continue to be a strong defense and pose a threat on third downs. So, it’ll be up to the 49ers defense to find a way to get off the field.
A big part of that? Being able to effectively stop the run on early downs so that the Seahawks don’t have as many attainable third downs to convert.
Rely on Brock Purdy
If Christian McCaffrey is unable to go, the 49ers are going to need Brock Purdy to step up and make some big-time plays.
Last year, when things went awry offensively, Purdy went out of structure a little too often and didn’t take what the defense was giving him. He can’t play “hero ball” on Sunday, but he’ll need to find a way to make plays, which likely means a heavy dose of Ricky Pearsall and George Kittle.
Getting the ball out quickly against a tough Seattle defense will be important, and head coach Kyle Shanahan has generally found a way to scheme open receivers in this matchup. Playing in structure, taking what the defense gives, and also finding a way to make plays will be paramount for Purdy on Sunday.
