Why you can be cautiously optimistic about the 49ers chances in the red zone against the Seahawks

The San Francisco 49ers will look to finish off a third consecutive season sweep of the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday as the two meet at Levi's Stadium.

These two teams met just last month when the then 2-3 49ers went up north and beat the 3-2 Seahawks by a score of 36-24. Neither team has picked the pace since, although the 49ers are coming off winning consecutive games for the first time this season. However, Seattle has struggled, going 1-2 since Week 6, while losing its last two games to drop to 4-5.

And while the last matchup happened just last month, plenty has happened since the two teams met, like the trade deadline and both teams' bye weeks. The most significant change, however, comes from the Seattle defense.

That's where we will start this week's numbers to know:

Linebackers Tyrel Dodson and Jerome Baker have played 894 snaps combined for the Seahawks this season.

The Seattle starting linebacking corps in Week 6 allowed Isaac Guerendo and Jordan Mason to rush for 172 yards on 19 combined rushes.

Now, Dodson is with the Miami Dolphins , and Baker is with the Tennessee Titans , with Seattle decision-makers blaming the two for the Seahawks' bottom-five run defense. Seattle acquired Ernest Jones from the Titans in the deal that sent Baker to Tennessee, and rookie Tyrice Knight and Drake Thomas will replace Dodson.

The 49ers will also have a lineup change from the Week 6 clash that will impact the run game. Christian McCaffrey made his season debut last week against Tampa Bay with no ease-in period. McCaffrey had 19 touches, with 13 of the 49ers' 17 designed run carries and six receptions. He finished with only 39 rushing yards, but a 30-yard reception got him to 107 yards from scrimmage.

Since acquiring Jones, Seattle's run defense has had mixed results. It allowed Buffalo 164 rushing yards but held the Rams to 68 before the bye. However, Sunday will be Seattle's first game with Jones without its leading tackler, Dodson. McCaffrey has rushed for 486 yards in four games against Seattle since the 49ers acquired him in 2022 and is averaging 6.4 yards per attempt.

The Seahawks defense has allowed a touchdown on 54.3 percent of red zone drives, the 14th best in the league.

Until the 49ers offense can solve it, I will continue to mention the red zone issues.

Even with McCaffrey returning last week, San Francisco only managed to score a touchdown on one of three red zone drives, and even that took a miraculous throw and catch from Brock Purdy to George Kittle to get the score. The lone touchdown didn't do much to improve the 49ers on the season; they are still in the bottom five with a touchdown on 47.4 percent of red zone trips.

There might be a silver lining for the 49ers on Sunday, however. When these two teams met last month, Seattle allowed a touchdown on 45 percent of red zone drives. That's nearly a ten percent increase in three games.

San Francisco scored on three-of-five red zone trips in Week 6, scoring all three touchdowns in the second half. Seattle played Atlanta the following week and allowed two touchdowns in two red zone drives in the Seahawks 34-14 victory. The Buffalo Bills scored a touchdown on four-of-five red zone drives in Buffalo's win before Seattle righted the ship, allowing one red zone touchdown in three trips in the Seahawks' overtime loss to the Rams.

After allowing nine red zone touchdowns through its first games, Seattle's defense has allowed ten over its last four, starting with the three allowed against San Francisco last month. With the 49ers still looking for consistency in the red zone, they'll battle a struggling defense in which they've already had some red zone success against.

On Tuesday, Cornerback Deommodore Lenoir signed a five-year, $92 million extension with the 49ers.

A well-deserved pay raise for the 2021 fifth-round selection, who took some lumps in his rookie season but has since developed into one of the better slot cornerbacks in the league. Lenoir has played in every game since his rookie season, intercepting six passes over the last three seasons, including two this year, with his most recent coming against the Cowboys.

But now that the bag has been secured, the hard work begins for Lenoir to prove he deserves to be one of the highest-paid corners in the league. And that hard work will start Sunday with a matchup against the receiver who has taken the most slot snaps this season: Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Smith-Njigba's 342 snaps in the slot are the most in the league by a large margin–Giants receiver Wan'Dale Robinson is second with 281–with the Seattle receiver taking 86.4 percent of his snaps in the slot. Two weeks ago against the Rams, Smith-Njigba took 43 of his snaps from the slot and finished with seven receptions for 180 yards and a pair of touchdowns, the biggest game of the second-year receiver's career.

While we can bank on Smith-Njigba being used heavily in the slot on Sunday, we can also count on Lenior being on the other side of the line. Lenoir's 337 snaps in the slot are the sixth-most in the league, and will hope to bring Smith-Njigba back down to earth a bit.

Both young players are coming off noteworthy weeks–Smith-Njibga on the field, where he had 180 yards on 13 targets and two touchdowns, and Lenoir in the wallet—and they'll be eager to continue their momentum against a rival.