The San Francisco 49ers kick off their 2025 campaign with a highly anticipated divisional game against rival Seattle Seahawks.
The two teams split their series in 2024, with the Seahawks’ Week 11 at Levi’s Stadium doing more than enough damage to essentially end any real hopes the 49ers had of making the playoffs last season. However, the last time these two teams met in Seattle, San Francisco put together one of its best performances of last season with a 36-24 win.
All of 2024 is erased, and both
teams will look drastically different on Sunday, starting with the 49ers’ receiving corps:
34.7
Brock Purdy will be without 34.7 percent of his 608 completions since taking the starter role in 2023 on Sunday in Seattle.
And that’s at least 34.7 percent. The 49ers will be without Brandon Aiyuk (temporarily) and Deebo Samuel (permanently) to start the season. It should go without saying, but the two of them have played an essential role in the development of Brock Purdy.
When Purdy had the best season of his early career in 2023, Samuel and Aiyuk combined for 135 receptions for more than 2,100 yards, helping Purdy carry an MVP-caliber year. 2024 was a different season, however. Aiyuk suffered his gruesome knee injury, and Samuel had his fair share of struggles, leading Purdy to regress in 2024.
Sunday will mark the first time Purdy will start without either Aiyuk or Samuel lining up out wide for him. He won’t be without talent with George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, Ricky Pearsall, and Jauan Jennings, but the receiving corps will have a different feel sans Aiyuk and Samuel.
35
The projected starters along the Seahawks’ offensive line combined for 35 starts in 2024.
It’s a relatively new offensive line for Seattle, where only three starters from last season return, but only one played in all 17 games – Charles Cross. Outside of Cross, Abe Lucas – who just signed an extension on Thursday – started in only seven games after missing the first chunk of the season with a knee injury. In comparison, Anthony Bradford started in 11 games before a leg injury ended his season.
The two newcomers both come out of North Dakota State, with Jalen Sundell slated to make the first start of his career on Sunday after only playing 48 snaps on the offensive line in all of 2024. While he will step in at center for Connor Williams – who abruptly retired midway through last season – former Bison teammate Grey Zabel will make his NFL debut to the left of Sundell.
The new look Seahawks offensive line might seem like an advantage for the 49ers, but at minimum, it’s a solid test for the 49ers’ reworked defensive line. Nick Bosa is the only constant from 2024 on the San Francisco defensive line, likely joined by Jordan Elliott. But beyond Elliott, it’s a new look line with the additions of Mykel Williams, Bryce Huff, CJ West, and Alfred Collins (among others)
The defensive line is usually a strength of the 49ers, but the new look line will have an interesting contest against the reworked front of Seattle’s offense.
268
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold threw for 268 yards against the 49ers in Week 2 last season when Darnold’s Vikings defeated San Francisco, 23-17.
When the 49ers fell to Minnesota last season, it was viewed as an upset in the early portion of the season, but as the year developed, it was the proper result.
Now, the reworked 49ers will get a second chance against their former backup quarterback, but this time in a more pressure-filled divisional meeting. While the 49ers were able to defeat Geno Smith and company last season in Seattle, they lost the home tilt in the middle of November, beginning a stretch of games that saw San Francisco lose seven of its previous eight games.
With Smith heading to Las Vegas, Darnold steps in as the Seahawks’ new starting quarterback. Darnold’s big play in last season’s win over San Francisco was a 97-yard bomb to Justin Jefferson to put Minnesota up 10 in the second quarter. Darnold won’t have Jefferson on Sunday – a positive for the 49ers – but he’ll also be without DK Metcalf, who was traded to Pittsburgh over the offseason. Instead, Darnold will have Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp at hand as he enters the 49ers/Seahawks rivalry.
Last year’s season matchup against Darnold didn’t go the 49ers’ way, but Robert Saleh might have a say in how it goes on Sunday.
