San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told FOX Sports’ Terry Bradshaw he spent the entire 2026 offseason studying how to beat the Seattle Seahawks. When the teams finally met, the 49ers had one new trick up their sleeve that made the difference — future Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Mike Evans. He went off against the Seahawks’ typically elite pass defense. The stats and tape both showed a rare mismatch that’s worrying to fans and pundits alike.
The numbers on a tough day in coverage for Seahawks CB Josh Jobe, via ESPN Research: nine targets, seven catches allowed for 112 yards, a TD and a passer rating of 155.6.
— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) October 12, 2026
Much of that was Mike Evans, who caught six of seven targets for 98 yards and the TD on 14 routes vs. Jobe.
Mike Macdonald
to @BrockHuard and @TheMikeSalk on Jobe: "I know Josh got beat a couple times. We trust Josh to play press man-to-man. He’s been doing it for two years now and he’s done in it at a high level. When that happens, you’re going to lose one-on-ones." (continued) pic.twitter.com/jEwd5BIREV
— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) October 12, 2026
Since the game ended, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald has been questioned several times about whether he considered treating Evans differently than other receivers by using double teams. Seahawks cornerback Josh Jobe was left to cover Evans one-on-one several times on Sunday. During his postgame press conference Sunday night, the Seahawks’ coach pushed back on the premise.
“What do you mean treating anything differently?”
The reporter then prompted Macdonald by saying, “It seemed like Jobe was kind of on an island,” to which the coach simply responded:
“No. What do you mean treating anything differently? The guy’s a great receiver. We’re trying to cover him.”
In his Monday press conference, Macdonald gave a more detailed response to the Evans problem.
Every fan on the couch is screaming "double Mike Evans!" Can you help people understand the trade-offs you have to make in those situations?
— Brian Nemhauser (@hawkblogger) October 12, 2026
Great and honest answer from Mike Macdonald pic.twitter.com/ZDyLip95M4
“When you double a guy, it takes away from other areas and just because he catches the ball doesn’t mean that you don’t have two people allocated to him.
“So I understand it’s probably frustrating to see that, and I believe it’s a fair criticism.”
San Francisco has shown its hand. Seattle has seven more weeks to prepare for the rematch. To understand what Seattle might do differently next time, we first need to understand the why.
Evans was measured at 6-foot-4 6/8 and weighed 231 pounds coming out of college. Those are 97th- and 98th-percentile marks among receivers. Those, his hand size (9.625 inches), and his arm length (35.125 inches) are the only testing numbers relevant to what he actually does on the field. Evans plays “basketball on turf,” with his strategy closer to NBA post play than to what NFL wideouts typically do. He boxes out cornerbacks he has ridiculous height and length advantages over, and catches passes regardless of their technique.
Mike Evans was drafted with pick 7 of round 1 in the 2014 draft class. He scored a 7.00 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 362 out of 1202 WR from 1987 to 2014. https://t.co/si5oTZk8KE pic.twitter.com/AvSVkf6gOF
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) May 26, 2023
Jobe was just his latest victim on Sunday. He’s as technically sound a defensive back as you’ll find, but he was measured at just 5-foot-11 4/8 and weighed 182 pounds coming out of college. That’s a 5 2/8-inch height disadvantage and a 49-pound weight disadvantage. Each of Jobe’s arms is also 2.495 inches shorter than Evans’. These reasons are exactly why Evans was the seventh overall pick in 2014, while Jobe went undrafted in 2022.
A rewatch of all 10 of Evans’ targets shows Jobe was at least partially responsible for covering him on six of his seven catches. On two of three of Evans’ targets that weren’t catches, Jobe wasn’t part of the plan. With Jobe covering him, Evans was 6-for-7, and without, he was 1-for-3. The other plans weren’t perfect either, as 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy bailed the Seahawks out, missing long on one throw and short on the other — but in those cases, the coverage didn’t get beat right away. They gave defensive tackle Byron Murphy II time to get home. They gave the rest of the defense a chance to wreck the offense’s plan, too.
The Seahawks have time and options to discuss and practice before their next meeting, but Jobe won’t face another receiver of Evans’ stature until he sees him again in Week 12. At least they know what’s coming now. The top ideas that come to mind are:
- Get a “slenderman”-style cornerback to play the old Tariq “Riq” Woolen role. Riq’s size and speed allow him to match up with the Evans prototype of receiver. You don’t need a premier one; just one who fits the prototype and can be trusted to some extent in other areas. Former Seahawks receiver-turned-cornerback Tyrone Broden comes to mind.
- Make him tap. Evans is 33 and played through two broken ribs in Week 5. He believed he could avoid big hits from Seahawks defenders. When he does catch the ball, he needs to be punished. Seattle’s safeties, Ty Okada and Julian Love, weren’t able to land clean hits on him in the open field. If they had, they could’ve forced him to admit playing through those injuries was a risky decision. Devon Witherspoon is even shorter than Jobe, but routinely forces receivers to make business decisions.
- Build a box around Evans in coverage. If the first two personnel-based solutions aren’t viable, you can change the structure of the defense and truly double-team the massive target. You can also implement this to any degree on certain downs and distances.
This is a human problem. We at Seahawks Wire will continue to explore human solutions for it. Followseahawkswire.usatoday.com and@TheSeahawksWire on X for human analysis of all things Seahawks.
This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: The Seahawks have a Mike Evans problem. Here’s how to fix it
