Hear that?
It’s been there for every offensive snap of the 49ers’ season. Every time Brock Purdy calls out the play in the huddle, each adjustment he makes at the line of scrimmage, it’s there.
Silence.
Between their owner’s arrest, their coach’s car crash and all the doubts surrounding their age and health, the Niners have tuned out the noise to an impressive degree to begin the season.
But there’s one thing they haven’t had to deal with.
Actual noise.
The 49ers may have already logged almost 16,000 round-trip miles in the air, but they haven’t used a silent count on offense once. They’ve played three home games and effectively a fourth on the other side of the world. But that’s about to change Sunday.
Kyle Shanahan had better hope his team hasn’t gotten too comfortable operating in front of friendly crowds. Because it’s about to get real hostile, real fast.
There is potentially no larger contrast between the docile environs that have greeted the 49ers through their first four weeks and the wall of noise awaiting them inside Seattle’s Lumen Field.
Talk about being thrown into the deep end.
But the Niners are eager to show they can swim in the choppiest conditions.
“It’s always a good test,” running back Christian McCaffrey said. “You know, super-loud stadium, hostile environment. Obviously [a] division opponent, so it’ll be a good test for us.”
“Their stadium,” added linebacker Fred Warner, “is one of those places where it’s going to be hostile.”
Seattle’s fans are so notorious they have their own name. The stadium is home to some of the most haunted memories in 49ers history — but also some of their greatest glory.
Warner and John Lynch fondly recalled this week the final week of the 2019 season and the game-saving tackle made by Dre Greenlaw at the goal line to clinch the NFC West and No. 1 seed. Just last season, Jake Tonges became an unlikely hero with his late go-ahead TD.
Tonges’ touchdown catch, in fact, secured the 49ers’ fourth straight victory at their archrivals’ supposedly intimidating home field. Of course, that run screeched to a halt in January.
This matchup, however, is the rare one in which Shanahan’s biggest challenge lies in the X’s and O’s. It’s been eight quarters since his offense reached the end zone against Mike Macdonald’s defense. The crowd noise and the absence of fullback Kyle Juszczyk only complicate the task.
During his pregame television appearance before the Super Bowl, Shanahan was asked about the best way to attack the impressive Seattle unit. “I know you guys want my expert opinion,” he said, “but I haven’t scored a touchdown on these guys the last two times we’ve played them.”
“Even when you get through that front seven, it’s tough to get past those safeties,” Shanahan said this week. “The safeties back up everybody for big plays, yet they’re still very aggressive, and it doesn’t just feel like you can dink and dunk them the whole game. The combination of those two things is rare.”
Shanahan said this week that he dedicated extra time this offseason to poring over ways to find more success against their division rivals. With just about all of his weapons besides Juszczyk at his disposal, he’s about to learn how much that work paid off.
That is, as long as Purdy can hear his playcalls.
Marquee matchup: 49ers tight ends vs. S Nick Emmanwori
Shanahan hasn’t had arguably the most important tool in his tool chest two of the last three times he has tried to crack Macdonald’s defense — tight end George Kittle, who got hurt in their Week 1 showdown last year and missed their divisional-round rematch. Not too far down the list, though, is Juszczyk. The last time the 49ers had to operate without their durable and versatile fullback was all the way back in 2022. Kittle — along with fellow tight ends Brayden Willis and Luke Farrell — will be asked to shoulder some of Juszczyk’s responsibilities while he sits out with a knee injury. Part of that will mean picking up Seahawks do-it-all secret weapon Nick Emmanwori when he rushes the passer and beating him when he drops into coverage. Listed as a safety, Emmanwori can line up at any layer of the defense, which, “schematically,” Shanahan said, “it causes a lot of issues, just how to target people.”
The score: Seahawks 24, 49ers 20
It sounds silly to say about a team that has outscored its opponents by more than anybody, but there’s just one too many things working against the Niners for them to remain undefeated. Either one of Juszczyk or Nick Bosa could put them over the top, but without both — against the team built to be Shanahan’s kryptonite — it will be too much to overcome against the defending Super Bowl champs in the best home-field advantage in the NFL.
Key stat: 75.5
Brock Purdy’s passer rating in his past four matchups against Mike Macdonald’s defense; in 17 other games in that span, Purdy’s passer rating is 110.5.
