Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff Writer 8y

Moving the chains, creating pressure without blitzing key for 49ers in Seattle

SEATTLE -- The San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks square off Sunday in Week 3 with each team carrying a 1-1 record. Kickoff is set for 4:05 p.m. ET at CenturyLink Field.

Here are three things to watch from a 49ers' perspective in this matchup:

1. Moving the sticks

No, this isn't the usual key-to-the-game cliché about winning the time-of-possession battle and keeping Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson off the field so he can't do any damage. That would be nice, sure, but this is actually more about the 49ers finding ways to extend drives to alleviate some of the pressure on their own defense.

While the Niners slowed things down a little bit in Week 2, they are still playing faster than every team in the league, at an average of 23.9 seconds of possession per play. That wouldn't matter much if the Niners were consistently able to string drives together and force opposing defenses to work to get them off the field. But that hasn't been the case.

Through the first two weeks, the 49ers' offense has gone three-and-out on a whopping 50 percent of its possessions. The Niners are actually tied for 10th in the NFL in total first downs gained with 44, which means when they get one first down, they've usually been able to get more and put together a drive.

"The biggest thing is we just have to get the first first down," quarterback Blaine Gabbert said. "Once we do that, everybody just kind of settles in, the offense starts to flow and we start rolling."

If the Niners can do that consistently against a Seattle defense that's allowed just 28 first downs, tied for first in the league through the first two weeks, it would go a long way toward San Francisco's first victory in Seattle since 2011.

2. Getting after Wilson -- without the blitz

Obviously, pressuring the quarterback is a key to every game at every level of football. But that's normally a little different when it comes to Wilson. Wilson's ability to scramble and make big plays is his most dangerous trait, and he's eviscerated many a defense with his out-of-pocket wizardry. Perhaps no team in the league knows that better than the 49ers.

But Wilson is nursing a high ankle sprain, and though he's playing through it, even Seattle coach Pete Carroll has acknowledged that his offense isn't the same with Wilson dealing with the injury. It's left Wilson in the pocket more than usual, and the fifth-year player is getting rid of the ball quicker than ever. Wilson's average release time of 2.33 seconds is ninth fastest in the NFL and much faster than the NFL-slowest 2.67 he posted last season.

"I think, obviously, Russell got hurt and wasn’t 100 percent," 49ers coach Chip Kelly said of Wilson's performance in the Seahawks' 9-3 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 2. "He played and still put up some pretty good numbers. You know, they just didn’t get the conversions in the red zone and came away with field goals. But you always have to be aware of where they are because of the talent they have."

The combination of Wilson's injury and Seattle's struggles on the offensive line have undoubtedly contributed to Wilson's quicker trigger, but it's also worth noting that teams aren't blitzing Wilson as much as they have in the past. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Wilson has been blitzed on 21 percent of dropbacks, the lowest rate of his career. He has the league’s fourth-worst QBR against four or fewer pass-rushers (46), and has yet to throw a touchdown pass on such plays in two games this season.

In the meantime, Wilson has been hit or sacked 15 times this season, third most among quarterbacks in the league, while facing just 18 blitzes. In other words, teams are able to devote more players to coverage by rushing four or fewer and still generating pressure.

Niners defensive coordinator Jim O'Neil has been in the middle of the pack when it comes to dialing up blitzes, ranking 16th in the league in blitzing on 24.1 percent of dropbacks. He might be better served to play it even a little more conservative in this one and lean on the likes of Quinton Dial, DeForest Buckner and Arik Armstead to push the pocket.

3. Defending the post

After giving up 353 passing yards to Carolina quarterback Cam Newton & Co. in Week 2, it sounds a bit silly to say the 49ers' secondary played pretty well in coverage. Really, though, the Niners played pretty well in coverage. Which is to say the likes of cornerbacks Tramaine Brock and Jimmie Ward were generally right there near Panthers receivers Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess and tight end Greg Olsen. The problem wasn't separation so much as size.

On multiple occasions, Newton simply threw it up to Benjamin, Funchess and Olsen and let them use their superior size to make the play. Seattle doesn't have the football equivalent of Phi Slamma Jamma, but it does have tight end Jimmy Graham. Graham is still working his way back from injury, but he's a big, physical target who bears a striking resemblance to the Panthers' oversized pass-catchers.

“He’s such a big body that he can body you on plays where you think you have him covered, but he’s got such length where he can kind of body you up," Kelly said. "It’s a little bit of his basketball background where, you know, he can body you up and you can throw the ball, just like when you’re in the low post and you’ve got to kind of throw it over the top. He’s got a great feel for body position on defenders because of his basketball background. So he’s certainly somebody, again, in the passing game. I think it revolves, it starts, really you’ve got to find where the tight end is."

The Niners must not only find Graham but find the ball when it's thrown his way to prevent him from offering Wilson the type of outlet he needs when the ball must come out quickly.

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