Subscribe
Follow Us
After an encouraging showing in Week 4, it looked like the San Francisco 49ers had fully rebounded from their strange loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 3 and would once again prove why they are still one of the premier teams in the NFL.
… but then the 49ers dropped a stunner to Jonathan Gannon's Arizona Cardinals in Week 5 and suddenly, everything is back up in the air once more.
Are the 49ers a good team that has been marred by sloppy play and injuries? Or are they simply not as good as fans expected based on their reputation from years past? Could this be the year where everything falls out from under Kyle Shanahan and company and his team finally looks mortal?
While it's a bit too soon to make any wide-ranging judgments just yet, how they look against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 6 should play a pretty big role in how the season shakes out overall. If the 49ers win and win commandingly, all will be right within Niners Nation, but if they struggle in a close one or, worse, drop another divisional showdown, fans will continue to wonder what the heck is going on in Santa Clara. Fortunately, this matchup isn't looking too shabby at all for the 49ers, as there are areas where they clearly lap the Seahawks at this stage of the game.
*Watch NFL games LIVE with fuboTV (click for free trial)*
1. Brock Purdy outshines Geno Smith through the air
On paper, Brock Purdy and Geno Smith are two of the most prolific passers in the NFL, but how they get their yardage is very different.
You see, despite having only attempted 157 passes on the season, the 19th most in the NFL, Purdy has thrown for the fourth-most yards at 1,374. The 49ers are averaging 7.7 net yards per attempt through the air, and while they are still an effective rushing team down Christian McCaffrey, they've found much more success through the air despite having games without George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Ricky Pearsall.
The Seahawks, by contrast, have thrown the most passes in the NFL but only rank third in passing yards, with Smith connecting on 143 of his 199 attempts for 1,466 yards. His offense is only netting 6.2 yards per attempt, and they are doing so out of necessity, as they truly aren't getting much production on the ground, as they've allowed 113 more rushing yards than they've recorded.
Is there a world where Smith throws for more yards than Purdy in Week 6? Sure, but those will likely be hard-fought yards born out of necessity, as the Seahawks really can't win games any other way. Purdy's production, by contrast, should come within the confines of their larger gameplan, with his play-action passes becoming more effective the more Jordan Mason gets things going on the ground, and Mike Macdonald's defense sells out against the run.
As the game progresses and the 49ers put up their average 25.2 points per game, the pressure will be on Seattle offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb to pick up chunk plays through the air, and that is where Smith has really struggled in 2024, with his four interceptions and 18 sacks largely coming from that indecision.
2. Jordan Mason should have another career game in Week 6
Through the first five games of the 2024 NFL season, the real MVP of the 49ers has to be Jordan Mason, the former UDFA out of Georgia Tech who was thrust into the starting lineup due to Christian McCaffrey's injuries and has since become a force of nature on the ground.
Appearing in all five games with four starts, Mason has run the ball 105 times for 536 yards and three touchdowns. He's averaging 5.1 yards per carry, has picked up 25 first downs, and has even contributed as a receiver when his number gets called, catching seven of the eight balls thrown his way for 66 yards. Sure, he's fumbled the ball twice, which is unfortunate, but if you told most fans that the 49ers would remain one of the best rushing teams in the NFL without CMC in the shotgun, they would be over the moon with the news.
And the best part? In Week 5, Mason gets to rush against one of the worst defenses in the NFL, as only 12 teams have given up more yards on the ground than the Seahawks through five games. Allowing an average of 4.5 rushing yards per carry, with 640 total yards surrendered on the season, the Seahawks have been bad against the run through the first five games of the season. And in Week 6, it doesn't look like they will be afforded many favors, as they'll be tasked with slowing down Mason and company with a banged-up defensive front featuring four players who are either questionable or out in Byron Murphy II, Cameron Young, Derick Hall, and Uchenna Nwosu.
Even if the Seahawks get some good news on the injury front, they are still a below-average rushing defense, and considering how well the 49ers have moved the ball on the ground in 2024, that issue could cause a wild gap in time of possession and force Smith to throw the ball even more than he probably wants to in order to keep things competitive.
3. The 49ers return to the top of the NFC West
So, if the 49ers are able to keep things close through the air but really hammer the 49ers on the ground, there's a pretty good chance they secure the win in Week 6, right?
Yes, while this should be one of the more hard-fought games on the Week 6 schedule, as either team should have a chance to win, the 49ers have a more balanced offense, a more experienced head coach, and a burning desire to prove they are among the best team in the NFL after taking division Ls in Week 3 and 5. Taking care of business against the Seahawks would certainly do a lot to accomplish that feat and get the team back where they want to be: at the top of the division in the pursuit of another Super Bowl appearance.
