The long layoff is finally over. Two weeks after the Seattle Seahawks earned their first-round bye by defeating the San Francisco 49ers at Levi Stadium, the Seahawks are once again facing the 49ers, but this time in Seattle at Lumen Field.
The matchup will be the third time the Seahawks and 49ers have faced this season, so the teams are extra familiar with one another. It’s 1-1 on the season series, and the tiebreaker will send one team to the NFC Championship game.
A lot has changed and evolved with each squad since they first met in Week 1 through Week 18, and they will meet once again on Saturday. One of the most significant evolutions for Seattle has been its run game.
Rushing Game Back on Track
Over the course of the season, the Seahawks tried to get their running game going with mixed results. In the Seahawks’ first matchup with the 49ers this season in Week 1, the Seahawks ran for 84 yards total. However, in Week 18, the team racked up 180 rushing yards.
John Boyle of Seahawks.com wrote in his January 13 article about the Seahawks’ run game resurgence. Seahawks tight end AJ Barner credited the uptick to Seattle sticking with the run.
“I think just sticking with it, and I think it was just a matter of time,” Barner said. “I feel like the whole year we’ve had physicality up front, the backs doing their thing. I think just collectively at the perfect time, it’s really coming together. Got to continue to do that. I think it will be great to run the ball at home like playing up here in Seattle, bring on the weather, bring on the elements and let’s run the rock.”
Head coach Mike Macdonald believes that weekly adjustments have led the Seahawks to refine how well they run the football.
“We have a better idea of how much we can handle on a week-to-week basis,” Macdonald said. “How many runs can we carry? How many different types of runs? How many different formations can we build it out of it? How much do you put on your quarterback’s plate?”
With news of quarterback Sam Darnold possibly being limited, the Seahawks might need to lean on the run game even more.
Questions at QB
Coming out of their bye week, one would assume that the Seahawks were as healthy as they can be at this time of the season, but quarterback Sam Darnold has been battling an oblique injury all week.
Now, there are questions on just how much Darnold will be able to do in the game, making Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet all the more important figures.
Ari Horton of Seahawks.com, in her January 16 article, wrote that head coach Mike Macdonald feels optimistic about Darnold not being limited but prepared if he is.
“I think right now, he’s confident that he’s going to be able to go do his thing at 100 percent and we are too, but with these things, something could change between now and then or something can happen in game. So, kind of just have to roll with it,” Macdonald said.
Last week, against the Philadelphia Eagles with a depleted linebacker group, the 49ers gave up 140 yards rushing, and the Seahawks will look to replicate that success for themselves.
Seahawks Could Lean on Running Game Against 49ers