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With the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers set to face off Monday evening in what has the makings of a fantastic primetime matchup, we took a look Sunday at how the two teams have fared defending the pass against the six common opponents they have faced so far. Against those opponents the two defenses have surrendered very similar numbers of touchdowns and snagged a comparable number of interceptions, while the 49ers defense has posted far better rate stats. The second part of the puzzle is, obviously, how each of these teams stacks up against the run.
The six common opponents the Niners and Hawks have both faced so far are:
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Arizona Cardinals
- Los Angeles Rams
- Cleveland Browns
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
So, without wasting any time, let’s jump straight to the stats. First for the Seahawks:
Common opponents rushing stats versus Seattle
| Opponent | Att | Yards | Yds/Att | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Att | Yards | Yds/Att | TD |
| Cincinnati | 14 | 34 | 2.43 | 0 |
| Pittsburgh | 16 | 81 | 5.06 | 1 |
| Arizona | 23 | 115 | 5.00 | 1 |
| Los Angeles | 18 | 82 | 4.56 | 2 |
| Cleveland | 24 | 157 | 6.54 | 3 |
| Tampa Bay | 26 | 99 | 3.81 | 2 |
| Totals | 121 | 568 | 4.69 | 9 |
And then moving to the 49ers stats:
Common opponents rushing stats against San Francisco
| Opponent | Att | Yards | Yds/Att | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Att | Yards | Yds/Att | TD |
| Cincinnati | 19 | 25 | 1.32 | 0 |
| Pittsburgh | 22 | 79 | 3.59 | 0 |
| Arizona | 23 | 153 | 6.65 | 1 |
| Los Angeles | 22 | 109 | 4.95 | 1 |
| Cleveland | 18 | 102 | 5.67 | 0 |
| Tampa Bay | 26 | 121 | 4.65 | 0 |
| Totals | 130 | 589 | 4.53 | 2 |
Now, for the fans who would like to see the totals compared side by side, here they are:
Common opponent rushing totals versus 49ers, Seahawks
| Team | Att | Yards | Yds/Att | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Att | Yards | Yds/Att | TD |
| SEA | 121 | 568 | 4.69 | 9 |
| SF | 130 | 589 | 4.53 | 2 |
So, for those fans who argued that at the end of the day touchdowns given up are the most important, the 49ers have been far superior to the Seahawks in not allowing rushing touchdowns to this point in the season. Other than the number of rushing touchdowns allowed, however, the rushing stats for the teams are extremely similar.
With the game quickly approaching, it’s now just a matter of time before one team takes control of their destiny in the NFC West.