49ers vs. Seahawks: Previewing Week 2 for San Francisco

Week 2 by the numbers

When looking at the final score of last week’s game, a 23-3 loss, it shows a domination of one team. But in reality, Carolina didn’t handle the game like the score appears to indicate.

Despite being given opportunity after opportunity, the Panthers offense struggled to get things going. The 49ers failed on three separate fourth down attempts, turned the ball over twice and held the ball for nearly 10 minutes less than Carolina did — and the Panthers managed to only score 23 points.

The San Francisco defense needs to be given some credit, which sits at No. 12 in total defense after Week 1. While Cam Newton did have two passing touchdowns on the day, the secondary did manage one interception, held Newton to a 28.4 QBR and only allowed 171 total passing yards. The pass defense is currently No. 8 in the league.

Without a doubt the most invested-in group, the defensive line is where the 49ers are trying to build their team up from. And it was an uneven showing for them, as a few members stood out but the unit slumped as a whole (San Francisco didn’t register a single sack last week):

That battle between the San Francisco defensive line and the Seattle offensive line is a key matchup heading into this week’s game. There’s no way around it, the offensive line for the Seahawks is not the most formidable group. These are last week’s PFF grades for each Seahawks lineman:

• Left tackle Rees Odhiambo, 26.3; left guard Luke Joeckel 42.9, center Justin Britt, 75.1; right guard Mark Glowinski, 36.8; and right tackle Germain Ifedi, 44.5.

A favorable matchup awaits the 49ers defensive line, how they seize it might dictate the direction of this franchise.