The San Francisco 49ers lost their final two of three meetings against the Seattle Seahawks. In the first loss, the Seahawks would snatch the NFC West division title, and in the third defeat, Seattle would eliminate the Niners from the playoffs.
As a result, it was a challenging end to the 2025 NFL season for the 49ers as they couldn’t get past the Seahawks. Moreover, in those final two meetings, the Niners scored a combined nine points.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald has had 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan’s number, and heading into the 2026 NFL season, ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes sees the Seattle coach still having the upper hand.
“I think the Niners offense should be fine,” Kimes said on the June 26 appearance on “NFL Live.” “They’re always fine, even if [George] Kittle isn’t 100 percent. Kyle Shanahan seems to have the ability to solve anything, but there’s one thing he has not quite solved, and that’s Mike Macdonald.
“They have a real problem with this Seahawks defense when we think about them not just winning the division potentially, but advancing beyond that.
“Last season, when this offense, regardless of who was playing quarterback, played teams that were not Seattle, they had 0.1 EPA per play, which was fifth league-wide. Against Seattle, they were minus-0.118, which would have ranked 32nd.”
Why 49ers’ Offense Have Struggled Against Seahawks’ Defense
Furthermore, Kimes went into detail about why Shanahan and the Niners offense have a hard time playing against Macdonald and the Seahawks defense.
“A lot of it has to do with the coaching and the talent on the other side of the ball,“ Kimes added. “But one of those reasons is this: the Niners face a ton of base defense. We were talking about that because they put a fullback on the field, multiple tight ends, etc. In fact, they faced base defense like 42 percent of the time last year. Against Seattle, it was a quarter of that.
“The Seahawks defense said, ‘We don’t need to put an extra linebacker on the field against you guys. We’re going to live in nickel with Nick Emmanwori and Devon Witherspoon, our amazing tacklers, and we’re going to hold up against the run.‘ That is something this offense needs to solve because what they have been able to do against other defenses has not been as effective against this Mike Macdonald defense, and that stands.”
Kyle Juszczyk on Rams, Seahawks Hype Heading Into 2026 Season
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Rams have made blockbuster moves in an effort to win a Super Bowl.
Despite the Rams trading for Trent McDuffie and Myles Garrett while the Seahawks are the reigning champions, Kyle Juszczyk says the 49ers don’t need to win the offseason. Juszczyk also noted that he’s fine with people forgetting the Niners in favor of focusing on the Seahawks and Rams.
“We feel great about where our team is,“ Juszczyk told NFL Media on June 12. “The fact that we won 13 games last season with all that we had to deal with, I think that’s easy to forget. And rightfully so.
“The Seahawks won a Super Bowl, the Rams had a great season, they had some great additions in the offseason, so I can understand why that is the case. But I think we feel great about where we’re at.”
49ers Land Concerning Message on Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald