The San Francisco 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks 32-29 in a thriller over the weekend, only further accentuating their case as Super Bowl contenders in 2026.
The game involved seven turnovers, 13 penalties, and two inefficient passing offenses against strong defenses. And yet, it came down to the wire, with the 49ers edging it out, thanks to a couple of clutch scoring drives and a major defensive stand at the end.
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Looking back at the game, here are my five final observations from Sunday's win over the Seahawks.
OL has one of its best run-blocking games
The Seahawks have one of the best defensive lines in the league. Byron Murphy and Leonard Williams are such disruptors on the interior, which is why the trench battle between San Francisco's offensive line and Seattle's defensive line was going to be such a battle.
The 49ers offensive line has played extremely well to start the year, especially in pass protection, but we were waiting to see the run game fully develop. And against arguably the toughest matchup its faced so far, I thought San Francisco's offensive line did a great job creating lanes in the run game on Sunday.
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Christian McCaffrey rushed for 68 yards on 11 carries, averaging more than six yards per rush. McCaffrey got 3.55 yards after contact per carry, a great figure, but he also got 2.63 yards before contact, which is a very impressive figure against Seattle's defense.
As a result, we saw a couple of 10+ yard runs from McCaffrey, while Kaelon Black added one as well. There's still things to continue figuring out in the run game, and the 49ers are an elite passing offense. But against an opponent, it was a very good sign to see the offensive line have one of its best run blocking games.
Early returns on rookie class are quite strong
The 49ers still have a lot to figure out from their rookie class. But the early returns on a few players have been quite strong so far.
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De'Zhaun Stribling had put together an impressive preseason and was already the starter in two-receiver sets to start the year before his ankle injury.
Romello Height had one of his better games on Sunday, recording two pressures as the 49ers got a whopping 23 overall. It's now back-to-back games for Height with multiple pressures, and he's taken on the responsibility of a pretty big role so far with the injuries.
Kaelon Black has had his ups and downs, but the trust is there in him, unlike a couple of running backs the 49ers have drafted the last few years. And Jaden Dugger filled in admirably for Dre Greenlaw on Sunday, racking up nine tackles, two pressures, a sack, and a tackle for loss in a huge game. We saw Dugger's potential in the preseason as the ultimate chess piece, moving around as a linebacker and around the line of scrimmage.
Now, in his biggest action yet, Dugger did his part, while also adding four defensive stops and not missing a single tackle.
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Then, on the defensive line, there's Gracen Halton, who has been a big factor early in the season. Halton had another three pressures and three defensive stops on Sunday, marking his best performance of the season against a very tough opponent.
I've said this before but Super Bowl winning teams usually always need some production from their rookie classes. The 49ers are getting it early on from this 2026 group.
Two players in the secondary are coming back into their own
The 49ers have looked to draft a number of younger players in the secondary over the past few years, and for the most part, they've seen some good results. But there were two players with high hopes in particular that were inconsistent last year: Malik Mustapha and Renardo Green.
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Mustapha had been working back from a torn ACL, and had a good number of ups and downs alongside the similarly inconsistent Ji'Ayir Brown that left some wondering whether the 49ers could look for an upgrade this offseason. But the team stuck with their young safety duo, and it's starting to come together for the third-year pro.
Man, Malik Mustapha was all over the place on Sunday. The heat-seeking missile had seven tackles, and made a number of impact plays. He broke up a pair of passes with big hits, including one on Jaxon Smith-Njigba on the final drive. He was flying through rushing lanes to try to make plays. It was one of his better performances of the season.
Then, there's Renardo Green, the embattled third-year cornerback who was benched a few times last year. San Francisco brought in Jack Jones, who has seen the field some times this year, but Green has really looked more confident on the field and is starting to come together.
The young cornerback had two interceptions, while allowing just two completions on five targets for five yards. The other target? A pass breakup. Green allowed just an 8.3 passer rating on Sunday.
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He was the most-targeted cornerback, with three of those targets coming against Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Green broke up one, intercepted another, and gave up a four-yard catch on the third.
The 49ers defense has been really good this year despite some injuries and a reliance on younger players. Credit goes to Raheem Morris and this defensive staff because the players look to be playing with a ton of confidence right now, especially these two young defensive backs.
