Last Thursday night, the San Francisco 49ers soundly defeated the Seattle Seahawks 36-24 in Seattle, Washington. They largely won thanks to their offensive and defensive lines, as they dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The Niners ran for 228 yards on the ground while surrendering only 52 yards rushing to Seattle.
There are a lot of takeaways for both these teams going forward. The Niners play the defending Super Bowl champions next week while the Seahawks take on one of the hottest offenses in football in the Atlanta Falcons. Both teams have a lot to address going forward in what should be a tight race to the NFC West crown.
San Francisco 49ers Outlook
The 49ers’ schedule for the next eight weeks looks absolutely brutal. They play the Chiefs and Cowboys at home and then after their bye week, four of their next five opponents have winning records at the moment, with only team not having a winning record being the Seahawks. That being said, the Niners did show a lot of promise on Thursday night for the future.
For one, the San Francisco 49ers ran the ball extremely well, even when Jordan Mason exited the game in the second quarter. And while that has always been a staple of San Francisco under Kyle Shanahan, the offensive line also did an excellent job in pass protection, giving up only ten pressures against Seattle last Thursday. If the San Francisco 49ers can come close to that performance going forward, the Niners could reestablish themselves as one of the top offensive lines in football.
On the defensive side, they’re also going to need to replicate their performance on Thursday night, specifically from the defensive line. Up until that game, the 49ers were not great at rushing the passer this season, especially compared to how good they were in prior years. The loss of Javon Hargrave certainly hurts, but regardless, they did a good job at replicating his production on Thursday.
Overall, the San Francisco 49ers and their schedule may be difficult for the next couple of weeks, but they should still be okay. Even without Christian McCaffrey, they still have one of the most talented rosters in the NFL, and they’ve shown flashes of what they could be over the course of the season.
Seattle Seahawks Outlook
Seattle is reeling right now. They are on a three-game losing streak, and all three losses have been due to them getting bullied at the line of scrimmage. Seahawks right tackle Stone Forsythe in particular has struggled mightily this season, giving up a staggering 35 pressures through six weeks of action. They’ve also not been able to stop the run giving up over 115 yards rushing in each of their last three games.
The Seahawks have also been ravaged by injuries to their defensive and offensive lines, so it makes sense as to why they are currently struggling in both areas. Geno Smith has mostly been good to start the season, even if he had probably his worst game of the season last week against San Fran. He and D.K. Metcalf have struggled to connect on big plays throughout with multiple touchdowns either being called back or not counting.
As for their schedule going forward, it is similarly brutal to the San Francisco 49ers. Their next two games are particularly tough against the Bills and Falcons, two teams that have run the ball well this year, and if Seattle can’t get guys like Byron Murphy and Uchenna Nwosu back for those games, they could very well be 3-5 going into their game against the Rams in week 9.
Overall, the Seahawks should be concerned with the direction their team is going in. They’ve shown no ability to consistently protect Geno Smith over the course of the season and their once stout defense has been showing a lot of cracks. They have a lot of issues to clean up, that’s for sure.
Final Thoughts
Even though both teams have tough schedules down the stretch, the San Francisco 49ers are in a much better position going forward. They have a healthier and more talented roster and have been better able to cover up their weaknesses than Seattle. Neither of these teams are perfect and do still have a lot to fix.
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