SEATTLE — The San Francisco 49ers leaned on a defense stacked with young players to deliver its best performance of the season and edge the Seattle Seahawks 32-29 in Seattle, improving to 5-0 in the biggest game of the year so far. The unit, which has been maligned in recent seasons and in which San Francisco has invested considerable draft capital, showed clear promise under new coordinator Raheem Morris.
Despite allowing 29 points, the numbers behind the display were dominant. San Francisco created four turnovers to give the offense short fields in the first half, sacked quarterback Sam Darnold five times with eight quarterback hits, and held Seattle to 3.4 yards per rush. Seattle was held to field goals on five of its seven trips into San Francisco territory and posted just a 30 percent success rate on offense. Per Sumer Sports, San Francisco generated a 51.4% pressure rate, a 97th percentile mark, with seven different players recording at least two pressures. Five different players recorded sacks: Jaden Dugger, Keion White, Gracen Halton, Sebastian Valdez and Osa Odighizuwa, with White and Halton leading the way.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan pointed to the inexperienced contributors stepping up after Dre Greenlaw's second-quarter ejection and with several defensive linemen sidelined. "From what I saw watching, it looked like they stepped it up a number of times. Just the guys you mentioned, I saw them make a number of plays today. If that doesn't happen, especially when you lose a guy like Dre, and Dugger starting at base, but having to play that much at nickel with Dre going out. Gracen with losing some of the D-linemen we've had. Mykel with his first game back. It's really hard to win a game in that situation if those guys don't step it up, and they've been stepping up huge," Shanahan said.
Gracen Halton delivered one of the biggest plays, forcing and recovering a fumble from Seahawks running back George Holani in the final seconds of the first half for a touchdown that put San Francisco up 21-13. Valdez, who worked his way onto the 53-man roster after spending his rookie year and the start of this season on the practice squad, added three tackles and a sack. Dugger moved from strong side linebacker on base downs to playing all three downs at weakside backer after Greenlaw's ejection and finished with nine tackles, a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit and a sack. In the secondary, third-year corner Renardo Green took his strong start to new heights with two interceptions and three passes defended. "When you're out there it's your time to play," Green said. "When you're out there – I don't care who's out there – you're the guy. So it doesn't matter if you're an old guy or a young guy, we all are held to the same standard. That's how the players hold accountability for each other, and that's how our coaches also push us. So, it doesn't surprise me that young guys are making plays, we do it all the time in practice. We were doing it in camp, and we were doing it in preseason. No matter who's out there, we're all held accountable and to the same standard."
Led by middle linebacker Fred Warner and boosted by the return of last year's first-round pick Mykel Williams at defensive end, San Francisco dictated the line of scrimmage against the run and pass, even with star edge rusher Nick Bosa still on the sidelines and outside of Warner and Greenlaw lacking household names. "We got the utmost confidence. (Defense) has been going crazy," White said. "Seabass [Sebastian Valdez], he's been really stepping up big, making the most of his moment. Yeah, Dugg [Dugger] is a great player in this league. Shout out to John [Lynch] for drafting the really good young guys. And shout out to them for stepping up." Left tackle Trent Williams added, "We have a really young defense, but these guys fly around," praising the high-intensity style of Morris' youthful group.