Week 7 Preview Versus Seahawks
Week 7 is already upon us, with the Seahawks in town for a Thursday night contest. Both teams sit at 2-4, but honestly, the 49ers 2-4 feels a little better. Maybe it was the high expectations, both from themselves and the media, but watching this Seahawks team flounder makes my heart warm. Many people, Seahawks included, will point to the teams they have played as reasoning for their losses but the records are the same regardless.
The 49ers have an opportunity to gain some serious momentum with a win over a Seahawks team that is searching for some consistency for all four quarters. On a short week, with both teams dealing with nagging injuries, this game will likely look vastly different than the previous matchups between these major rivals.
Offensively, this 49ers team may be starting to find a groove after putting up 27 and then 25 points in the last two weeks. Were there issues? Absolutely. But those issues look much better than the disastrous offense that trotted out for Weeks 2-4. Kap has played well for the last two games and is beginning to gain some of the confidence back. When he plays with a certain sort of swagger, he simply seems much better. The more Kap is expected to sit in a pocket and play emotionless, the more he looks overmatched,
After the last two weeks, Geep Chryst has started to clearly define what this offense needs to look like moving forward. I discussed in last week’s preview that Bruce Miller needed to see the field more often and become a facet of the offense that he used to be during successful Harbaugh times. Chryst did just that, setting the tone for the game early with some big plays to Bruce. The offense doesn’t need to be built around a traditional fullback but with Miller on the field the 49ers have a weapon that can be moved all over.
Both the New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens have awful defenses and the 49ers rightfully should have taken advantage of those matchups. However the development and progress that came is unimportant now, this team needs to continue to perform against tougher competition if they expect to continue this encouraging trend. Fans are at an ultimate crossroads; do we root for wins or impressive performances coupled with losses? This team, as Tomsula himself has said, is judged on the win-loss column and playing for draft positioning is difficult for fans to accept. The 49ers need to decide over the next couple of weeks what team they want to be; a team that wins games and makes a push towards the Wild Card or a team that crumbles against strong competition. This week against Seattle, despite the poor record of the team up North, is a good week to start determining where the 49ers fall.
If players need motivation to get hyped for this week then they may be playing for the wrong team. Most players rarely take rivalries as seriously as fans but this one feels a little different. Seattle has routinely dominated the 49ers since the Superbowl loss to the Ravens and I expect some players are anxious to get on the field again. Navarro Bowman, who suffered a gruesome injury in his last game against Seattle, is surely ready to hit the field for another big game. All the well-wishing text and calls can’t change the fact that his season, and the 49ers, were effectively ruined at the hands of the Seahawks.
On defense, the 49ers need to exploit an offensive line that statistically is even worse than their own. Russell Wilson is constantly running from pressure behind a line that struggles to handle pass rushers every week. Not surprisingly, this Seahawks team, and Russell Wilson himself, have struggled to maintain the level of performance that NFL audiences have expected for the last few years. No matter how crafty he may be, not even Russell Wilson can defeat the amount of unblocked defenders he sees each week. Call me childish but I, for one, personally enjoy seeing him look helpless behind a line that leaks like a sieve. Expect Aaron Lynch to have a monster game against this soft offensive line. The stats may not be Aldon Smith vs. Chicago-esque but I expect to see at least two sacks from #59 tomorrow night.
Marshawn Lynch is expected to be a full-go Thursday night after being limited by an ankle injury for a few weeks. Fred Jackson will likely be busy ghost-riding in the Great America parking lot but Seattle has found an impressive rookie backup in Thomas Rawls. As an undrafted rookie, Rawls has rushed 59 times for 334 yards and an average YPC of 5.7, according to ESPN statistics. Nobody expects Marshawn to be supplanted anytime soon but Rawls may be the one-two punch Seattle was looking for when they drafted Christine Michael, whom they recently traded to the Cowboys.
The storylines continue to write themselves between these two teams but the performances coming into the game are far different than years past. No Michael Crabtree for failed endzone fades, no Frank Gore for game-icing runs in the 4th quarter, no Max Unger at center for Seattle, and a newly-underutilized tool in Jimmy Graham make both of these teams look different on offense. Seattle’s defense looks the same, albeit underachieving, and the 49ers defensive turnover has been talked about enough. Thursday night the teams will line up and play regardless of the changes that each have seen. A win could do wonders to increase Tomsula’s rep among fans and media while continuing the Seahawks spiral and heating up the Carroll to USC rumors. The 49ers need to decide what team they want to be. The Faithful are patiently waiting for Thursday’s response.
I’ll be at the game and will do my best to tweet leading up to kickoff about fan experience and appearance around the stadium. I plan on coming home voiceless and I’m hoping that the rest of the Faithful in the stands plan on the same. Whether at Levi’s or home, all fans need to get up for this one. The 49ers have an opportunity to dismiss all of the issues of the last few seasons with the Seahawks.
