By Brian Murphy
The last two times they played — only ten months ago — the combined score was 54-9, bad guys.
The coach of the bad guys, a defense guy, sort of owns the coach of the good guys, an offense guy.
The quarterback of the good guys, while on an absolute heater, has struggled mightily against the bad guys of late.
The good guys are missing their star pass rusher and promising rookie receiver.
The place where the bad guys play is loud and the bad guys are Super Bowl champs, so the loud people are going to be really loud.
So how in the name of Dre Greenlaw stuffing Jacob Hollister am I feeling good about the 49ers’ chances in Seattle on Sunday?
Because.
What, that’s not good enough for you?
Listen, I get it. Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald has a voodoo doll of Kyle Shanahan’s offense, and has been jamming pins in it since Christmas Night, 2023. It’s a real thing, the way Macdonald’s secondary schemes combine disciplined safeties and physical corner play to clog lanes for Shanahan’s over-the-middle layer game. It’s a real thing, the way Seattle general manager John Schneider has combined stellar draft picks like the versatile Nick Emmanwori and strong-like-bull Byron Murphy with game-wrecking acquisitions like Leonard Williams and Demarcus Lawrence.
Hear me out.
Brock Purdy is getting better — way better. Last week, Denver presented similar issues: tough-minded defense, good scheme, lots of traffic. And Purdy and Shanahan only cooked up 3 points in the first half. But — and this is the case when most any two good teams in the NFL play — a turnover shifted events when Siran Neal scooped up a fumble, and Purdy and Shanahan took advantage. The 49ers wound up scoring three touchdowns in the second half.
Point is, Purdy is showing more patience and sound decision-making than the Purdy of Christmas Past, when he threw about nine interceptions against Macdonald’s Ravens defense.
It would be ideal if Purdy had Ricky Pearsall and DeZhaun Stribling to worry the Seattle defense, but it’s an imperfect world. He does, however, have Mike Evans. And he does have a guy he didn’t have in either of the two games that wound up 54-9: he is the People’s Tight End and his name is George Kittle.
Oh, and if he needs someone to run through a tackle, the 49ers are listing Deebo Samuel as active on Sunday. That’s a change.
This Jock Blog is merely a trifling thing to get you through a couple of stops on BART, or as a sleep-inducer before bed, so we won’t spill too many words on the 49ers’ defense against the Seattle offense, another matchup the JB feels pretty good about. Seattle’s run game is a pale imitation of the Kenneth Walker/Zach Charbonnet era. And while Jaxson Smith-Njigba is that guy, indeed, he’s not going to single-handedly outscore the 49ers. I think.
No, this comes down to Kyle Shanahan finding just enough daylight and yardage in his play calls against his nemesis Macdonald, and to Purdy calmly and quietly distributing the ball to Evans, Deebo and Kittle. Not to mention the occasional Christian McCaffrey. It won’t be as easy without Kyle Juszczyk, but again: world, imperfect.
And when Macdonald’s dastardly schemes do flummox Purdy and there is no one home, there are those Purdy legs and Purdy moves and Purdy scrambles that can save the day and drive those loud Seahawks fans nuts. It’s only fair that a few Purdy scrambles on third downs break Seattle’s heart — payback for those insanely enraging Russell Wilson death scrambles from days gone by.
It’s the right time for the 49ers to win this game. They’re playing well. Seattle’s run game is a little sluggish. The 49ers are motivated and embarrassed from last year.
Good guys win. Bad guys feel bad. The NFC West comes into a more clear focus.
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