The San Francisco 49ers are in Seattle to face the Seahawks. This is what you want, whether you’re a fan or a player, to go against your heated rival in the playoffs. Here are our staff’s predictions for
tonight’s game.
Jason’s prediction
The 49ers are disappointed with their performance in Week 18. I believe Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers will come out with a chip on their shoulder. Yes, the 49ers are without George Kittle, but Trent Williams is returning, which opens up the outside zone to his side. If Ricky Pearsall can play, the 49ers have a downfield threat that will be able to back off the Seahawks’ defense.
The 49ers will struggle to run the football, but Kyle Juszczyk will help keep the 49ers on schedule with his short receptions, and I fully expect Shanahan to dial up shots and explosive plays for Juice. The run defense is in a better position and won’t miss 18 tackles again. Put Sam Darnold in obvious passing situations, and that’s when turnover situations will present themselves.
49ers 21, Seattle 17
Nicholas’s Prediction
I hilariously backed a shootout in Week 18, only for the 49ers to score a grand total of three points in defeat.
I’m not going to repeat that mistake, but I am going to pick the Niners to shock the world and win on the road at Lumen Field.
On paper, all the matchups are stacked in the favor of the Seahawks. That was certainly the case in Week 18, when Seattle could have won by a lot more than 10 points.
Yet, with Sam Darnold nursing an oblique injury, there’s significant scope for a turnover-strewn performance from the former 49ers’ backup, and those extra possessions figure to be worth their wait in gold to the 49ers.
Moving the ball theoretically figures to be even harder for the 49ers without George Kittle. However, the Niners proved they can do it without him in Philadelphia, and with Trent Williams back in the lineup, the offense should fare better than it did in the regular-season finale.
Ultimately, the 49ers’ hopes will come down to their offense repeating their production from the wild-card round and the defense making enough plays while producing the second-half improvements that have been a theme for this group under Robert Saleh in recent weeks. I’m backing both things to happen and the 49ers to pull out the victory.
49ers 19, Seahawks 17
Pat’s Prediction
We all know I was thinking the Eagles would win last week. That cynicism may have been what led to victory. This week, I’m not speaking on cynicism; I’m just trying to be rational.
And really, I don’t see the 49ers winning this. Now, if I’m a betting man, I’d be taking the 49ers and the points. I think they keep this close. I just don’t think they will move on. This is less about Sam Darnold keeping them in the game and more about that Seahawks defense doing Seahawks defense things. John Hussey, as the head official, doesn’t inspire confidence either.
Don’t take me thinking the 49ers losing means I want them to, or any of that. I am a fan, and I want them to win, and the final quarter will suck. When I look at all of this, I see a bright future. The 49ers took an extremely young team, inundated with injuries, all the way to the NFC Divisional. That will pay back dividends for years to come. Unfortunately, they are injured. We’ve seen how this defense looked last time against the Seahawks, and that was when the Seahawks were playing with their food.
But I do hope I get made fun of, because that means the 49ers won.
By the way, if the 49ers do win…Brock Purdy’s legend will continue to grow. How nuts would that be if all of this was set up for Purdy to just put the team on his back and prove how good he is?
Seahawks 19, 49ers 13
Rohan’s Prediction
I was skeptical of the 49ers in Week 18 for a variety of factors, and that proved to be the right pick with the Seahawks having a commanding win on the road. Then, I was skeptical last weekend that the 49ers could get the upset, and I was wrong.
I had been confident in the 49ers in the weeks prior as they racked up a nice win streak, but this game presents quite a few flaws for me. San Francisco’s struggles to stop the run stand out. They’re facing an offense that is seeing the run game really take off with the two-headed monster of Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet. And the 49ers struggled to defend the run in Week 18, which was a big reason for the one-sided score.
I also think that, while the 49ers offensive line has been good this year, they’ll be outmatched against Seattle’s defensive line. The Seahawks got pressure on the quarterback with four and neutralized the run game in their nickel set in Week 18, which bodes well for them here. If San Francisco’s one-dimensional, it’ll be hard to score without creating many explosive plays.
Brock Purdy’s going to have to find a way to lift this team. He wasn’t bad by any means in Week 18, but the 49ers need him to be excellent with how their team currently looks. That means minimal mistakes, like the ones he’s had in the last two weeks, and more of the extended plays, which he’s shown as well, but will be very tough against a good pass rush.
Overall, I think Seattle has just been too good a team this year, and there will be just a little too much to overcome for the 49ers. A fast start would do wonders and put Seattle on the defensive. Without that, I think this one ends up being a slugfest like the Week 18 game, with Seattle coming out on top.
Seahawks 23, 49ers 13
Andrew’s prediction
These two have played a pair of tight, low-scoring games, and there’s no reason to believe that trend won’t continue on Saturday night.
Seattle held the 49ers to a Shanahan-era low three points just two weeks ago, so you know there will be some adjustments. The return of Ricky Pearsall and Trent Williams might be just enough to get the 49ers offense to play significantly differently than it did in Week 18. But still, Seattle’s defense is one of the best in the league, and points will be tough to come by.
The Seahawks are the better team on paper, and there’s a chance the 49ers’ injuries finally catch up to them, although this last-second Sam Darnold drama does add intrigue. But I have a hard time believing the Seahawks will beat the 49ers twice in a row. It’ll be a close one, but the 49ers will narrowly come out on top.
49ers 16, Seahawks 13
Yinon’s prediction
This will be the Trent Williams game. Yes, a lot will have to go right for the 49ers to pull this off. But if Trent is BACK back, then everything else will flow. His run-blocking will help the 49ers actually get outside the tackles and attack Seattle’s Cover 2. His pass protection will allow for play-action passes and deep shots that can keep the over-aggressive Seattle defense honest. His impact on the offensive line will put Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey in better positions to make plays. His presence just opens everything up, making Round 3 feel a lot less clogged than Round 2. And if Ricky’s playing like himself again? No chance that Shanahan only puts up 3 points again.
On the other side of the ball, we can depend on Sam Darnold being Sam Darnold. The 49ers’ defense isn’t disruptive, it’s bad at generating pressure, it’s allergic to forcing turnovers, but at least they’ve proven that they’re competent enough to hold their own against talented offenses. If Eric Kendricks can handle Saquon Barkley, I think he can handle Kenneth Walker III. I would love for Upton Stout to make my season preview look prescient with a flashy pick-six, but short of that, I do think he (along with Deommodore Lenoir and Renardo Green) is perfectly capable of limiting JSN and Rashed Shaheed from going off. That’ll help Saleh manufacture pressure with some well-timed blitzes, which will put the 49ers in position to capitalize on Darnold Darnold’ing.
That’s before we even get to the fact that Week 18 had the 49ers playing their third game in 13 days, short-handed, wearing those terrible AI-generated-looking jerseys. Unlike Week 18, I think the 49ers defense will be able to make the plays they couldn’t two weeks ago. That’ll energize the offense to make the plays they were able to make last week against another upper-echelon (less talented but more battle-tested) defense. Yes, I’m aware of how delusional this prediction sounds, but nothing about this season has made any sense. “
49ers 20, Seahawks 14
Kyle’s prediction
Tonight will be about how competitive the 49ers are against the run. If it’s anything like the first half of Week 18, we’ll be talking about mock drafts on Monday. The good news for the defense is it’ll be tough to be worse, and adding a veteran like Eric Kendricks and speed like Marques Sigle could offset some of the advantages Kenneth Walker had in the last matchup.
If there’s a takeaway from the last time these two teams faced, it’s that Kyle Shanahan had no interest in exposing his offense without Trent Williams. We now have 17 games of the 49ers this season with Williams, and one without. I’m willing to dismiss the outlier performance, while still giving the Seahawks credit for shutting the Niners down.
Here’s a bold prediction: The 49ers are going to score more than three points.
Ricky Pearsall will be worth a first down or two. He’s the double-move threat that will keep Seattle’s secondary honest. Pearsall on the field also means you can run a two-minute drill without Malik Turner and Kendrick Bourne on the field, something the offense couldn’t accomplish last week.
Ultimately, tonight will be about stopping the run and generating big plays through the air for the 49ers. The pressure is on Darnold to perform. It’s up to the Niners to get Seattle into situations where Darnold has to.
I think Shanahan calls one of his timely trick plays or schemes open a big play, while the defense does just enough to allow Brock Purdy an opportunity for a comeback. It’s a quarterback-driven league, I think we see that in this game.
49ers 24, Seahawks 23
