San Francisco 49ers training camp is in full swing! It’s time for us to look at each opponent and provide a reason for and against the 49ers beating them. We’ve included a poll for the community to vote on whether they expect a win or a loss and will see what kind of prediction this provides at the end.
Week 1 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 2 @ Cincinnati Bengals
Week 3 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 5 vs. Cleveland Browns
Week 6 @ Los Angeles Rams
Week 7 @ Washington
Week 8 vs. Carolina Panthers
Week 9 vs. Arizona Cardinals
The divisional gauntlet continues into Week 10 with the Seattle Seahawks. You can read our opponent preview to see what the Seahawks have been up to. The big news of the offseason is they paid Russell Wilson. A lot of money ($140 million). And got this weird tweet. In other news for the offseason, Doug Baldwin retired and Earl Thomas has gone elsewhere.
The cool part is we all remember what happened when the Seahawks, a team on the cusp of a postseason berth, came into the house of the 49ers. They lost. Not only lost, but to a team that couldn’t beat the worst team in the league. Twice. Now losing to the 49ers has just got to hurt on its own, but when you are clearly a better team going in there, and then this happens?
49ers fans, just smile. That game was awesome for all the right reasons. The Seahawks have had some losses but they still keep on chugging. I already said I’m not throwing dirt on them despite the obvious reasons. Even with their first-round draft pick being injured (and then somehow it is less severe than originally thought).
Decimated by injuries, the 49ers made it a fun football game last time. Now with any luck, they will go into this with their starting quarterback among other players and make it even more fun. Then again, this is the Seahawks.
Reason for: The Seahawks’ wide receivers
49ers fans better hope D.K. Metcalf doesn’t pan out with the Seahawks. In the meantime, no more Baldwin. That leaves Tyler Lockett who had a breakout year, David Moore (meh) and Jaron Brown (who?).
Behind all of that is the rookie Metcalf, who may need a year in the NFL to really shine. Metcalf has the physical tools, but he went from a possible top-10 pick in the 2019 NFL draft to going at the end of the second round after the scrutiny that is the lead-up to the NFL draft.
Just for some numbers, behind Lockett’s 965 receiving yards in 2018, are Baldwin (618) and Moore (445). Then there’s a hodgepodge of tight ends, running backs and Brown who comes in at sixth with a crowd-pleasing 166 receiving yards.
On the surface it’s awful, but you need to remember, the Seahawks run the ball. A lot. Their 534 rushing attempts in 2018 is second behind the Baltimore Ravens. Even if it were not to work, they’d call dial-a-running back anyways. That run game is only going to get them so far, and if they find themselves needing to move down the field quick in a two-minute drill, well, then they turn to the names listed above. Besides Lockett who had a helluva 2018, there’s no one to trust on that receiver corps yet. The Seahawks can run all they want but in a close game where they need to move downfield and have only Lockett to depend on? The 49ers defense will put a stop to that real quick and dare Russell Wilson to throw the ball. This could lead to mistakes or sacks.
It also leads me to:
Reason against: Russell Wilson
Bad wide receivers? Whatever. We all know how the Russell Wilson special works. The special is either him getting balls into the strangest of places (some may call it lucky) until they are in scoring range and he gets a dart plopped into a tight end’s hands. Sometimes this is in epic fashion as he’s getting leveled.
The Seattle offense may take a step back in 2019, but don’t tell that to Wilson who just got paid. If there’s anyone who can put the team on his back, even with this patchwork group of pass-catchers, it’s him.
I mean, how many times has he sprung from the pocket or rolled out and connected with some circus catch deep throw? If anyone is going to give the 49ers fits, it’s Wilson.