The Seahawks are back at work this week with a familiar heavyweight coming to Lumen Field: the San Francisco 49ers. Seattle gets its Week 5 matchup with an NFC West opponent that has opened the season unbeaten, and the Seahawks are trying to move to 4-1.
If there’s a dream version of Sunday, it looks a lot like what happened the last time these teams met in January. Seattle opened that divisional round game by taking Rashid Shaheed’s kickoff all the way to the end zone, then kept pouring it on in a 41-6 rout that ended San Francisco’s season. That kind of start is tough to imagine repeating, but the memory of that meeting hangs over this one.
There’s also a real chance the 49ers show up ready to flip the script. San Francisco has been rolling through the first month, winning three of its four games by 10 points or more.
Its closest call came in Week 3 against the Arizona Cardinals, when it still put up 36 points. Through four games, the 49ers have scored at least 24 every time, and that kind of offensive rhythm can travel.
This one also carries the feel of a grudge game. Most of the players on this year’s San Francisco roster were around when last season ended in Seattle, and this is their return to the scene of the crime. That alone gives the matchup some edge, and it could cut into Seattle’s plans if the visitors come in with the right answers.
The Seahawks, though, have earned the right to think they can stand toe-to-toe with anyone right now. They’ve been in every game this season, with their only loss coming by two points at Washington. At home, they haven’t lost in more than a year, with the last defeat at Lumen Field coming in Week 5 a year ago against Tampa Bay.
So the likeliest version of Sunday may not be another blowout. It may be a close, high-scoring fight that feels bigger than Week 5. A playoff vibe in early October isn’t hard to picture here, and the scoreboard could be the whole story.
It would not be a surprise if this turns into a 38-35 kind of game. The real question is simple: which team gets to the higher number?
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One Seahawks fan was caught on video directing a food-related insult at Herbert during the game, an example of how thin the line can get when a star quarterback is struggling and a road crowd senses it. It was the kind of heckle that can travel fast because of who it was aimed at, and it added another odd footnote to a Chargers season that has already been short on comfort and long on scrutiny. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Suddenly Have A Tough Elijah Arroyo Question
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For a Seattle offense still sorting out its weekly identity, Arroyos quiet start raises a practical question as much as a developmental one. John Schneiders public confidence in him suggested the organization saw a bigger future ahead, yet the current usage says the staff is still deciding how, or even whether, to fold him into the game plan in a meaningful way. [Read more 🡒]