Normally, the first loss of a season is a great team’s initial sign of vulnerability. The longer that team goes undefeated, the more invincible they feel. While I would argue our offense makes us great in the first place, this team has felt FAR from invincible at any point this season, and that kind of loss down in Arizona was exactly what we all expected would come eventually. By all rights, it probably should’ve happened already.

These are kind of scary times in Seahawkland. We suffered a number of injuries down in Arizona (seriously, what’s in the fucking water down there, because we seem to lose key guys every fucking time we play there!) and our on-roster reinforcements aren’t yet ready to return from their previous injuries, it would seem. Tack on the fact that Carlos Dunlap won’t pass his COVID protocols until after this game takes place, and we’re as thin as can be heading into our home matchup against the 49ers.

The 49ers who, not for nothing, are on a 2-game winning streak, taking out the Rams and dismantling the Patriots. They’ve come a long way since gagging against the lowly Eagles and Dolphins at home the two weeks prior (namely, they have their starting quarterback back). Jimmy Garoppolo isn’t an MVP candidate by any stretch of the imagination, but he fits their system well, and against our defense, you don’t even have to be GOOD to look like a monster!

The 49ers will never be at full strength this year; they’ll never be as good as they were in 2019. This year is a real opportunity, in that sense. There’s an opening at the top of the NFC West, and we need to take advantage, strike while the iron is hot and all that. But, that doesn’t mean they’re bad. They WERE bad, when they were totally decimated by injuries, but some of those guys have returned, and so we’ll have a real test on our hands.

Luckily, Raheem Mostert and Deebo Samuel are out for this one (what’s bad for my fantasy teams is good for the Seahawks). But, that doesn’t mean they don’t have plenty of talent. We don’t have anyone to stop George Kittle, for starters (Jamal Adams still seems to be at least another week away, to my utter fucking hangdog dismay). Everyone is calling Brandon Aiyuk the second coming of Deebo Samuel (which is why I picked him up in both fantasy leagues), and that’s just in time for Shaquill Griffin to spend this week in the concussion protocol (a.k.a. he’ll be out). Look forward to lots of Tre Flowers getting used and abused! Happy Fucking Hungover All Hallows’ Day!

So, once again, we’re going to need the Seahawks to score 30+ points to have any prayer of winning this game. Even scraping by in the low 30’s feels insufficient; we might need to drop 40!

Which will be exceedingly difficult if we’ve only got one running back, rookie DeeJay Dallas (who has been the only running back to practice this week, which means we likely had wide receivers back there to fill out the rotation). In that sense, though, this could be really interesting. How does Letting Russ Cook look when he HAS to cook? When he’s the only chef in the kitchen? Does he throw 50 times in this one? Are we just rocked with screens, both of the bubble and traditional variety?

I actually have a sneaking suspicion that Chris Carson will try to find a way onto the field in this one, so I don’t know if we’ll see this possible peak of Let Russ Cook mania, but it’s fun to think about.

For as ravaged as the 49ers are on offense, the defense really got hit hard as well. But, again, there’s still talent there. The pass rush isn’t as ferocious as it once was, but it’s okay; I suspect it will be something close to what the Cardinals were able to produce last week. The secondary is probably weaker than Arizona’s, so I would still expect Wilson to have a field day with his deep balls.

The bottom line in this one is that the Seahawks have everything they need to win in a high-scoring shootout. But, my concern remains: when do we run into the game where the offense just doesn’t have it? Because I contend: it’s coming. Will it be this week? Will this be the perfect storm of mistakes and trying-to-do-too-much?

I’ll tell you this much: I have no confidence in this defense whatsoever to even get a stop! The 49ers might as well not even pack a punter, because I don’t think they’re going to need him! I think we’re going to give up an immediate touchdown and spend the rest of the day trying to play catch-up. But, at the same time, Jimmy G is prone to mistakes. He’s the wild card in all of this. You have to account for his inaccuracy and turnovers. If he screws up, he’ll single-handedly keep us in this game. But, if our pass rush doesn’t touch him, and he plays a clean game, the 49ers could win by two touchdowns.

So, I dunno. I don’t feel great about this one. I want to say the Seahawks are the better team, but I think things have been exposed about our offense in back-to-back games. I think the Vikings showed what a 2-high safety look can accomplish in limiting our over-the-top plays, and I think the Cardinals showed what a tricky zone-blitz scheme can do in frazzling our protection. Threatening an all-out blitz before pulling most of them back – except some turd off the side from the secondary – and generating pressure too quickly for us to react.

It’s not unprecedented for the Seahawks to lose two games in a row. I want to say having someone like Russell Wilson is an asset, and that he’d never let us succumb to such a lowly state, but the talent around him makes me wonder. My gut keeps telling me the 49ers are going to dump us on our asses (which is probably the best sign the Seahawks will win that I can come up with).