49ers vs. Seahawks: 5 Niners who must bounce back in Week 4

The 49ers need to get over their tough loss to the Packers last weekend, and these five players should be expected to bounce back versus the Seahawks.

The nice thing about an NFL loss is players have only a day or two to dwell on it and reflect upon what happened, particularly by watching the film and digesting everything that occurred, before they have to shift focus for the following weekend.

This is precisely what the San Francisco 49ers must do after their heartbreaking 30-28 Sunday Night Football loss in Week 3 to the Green Bay Packers, as the Niners now have to shift focus to yet another high-profile contest, a Week 3 NFC West home matchup against the 1-2 Seattle Seahawks, who also have to do some soul-searching after dropping two consecutive games.

There were certainly a few San Francisco players who were either unimpressive or underperformed last week versus Green Bay. Yet for the 49ers to avoid their first losing streak of the season, these five will have to bounce back into solid form against quarterback Russell Wilson and Co. this Sunday.

No. 5: 49ers Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo

Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo wasn’t awful, per se, in Week 3 against the Packers. After all, Garoppolo largely helped manage the Niners’ desperate comeback from a 17-0 deficit to eventually regain the lead, albeit briefly, in the fourth quarter.

Still, a stat line of 25-of-40 for 257 yards, two touchdowns against an interception probably won’t cut it against Wilson, who’ll regularly test a weak San Francisco cornerback crop by targeting prolific Seahawks wide receivers Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf with regularity.

Garoppolo can’t and shouldn’t be asked to shoulder the entire offensive load in Week 4. But he could make more of the presented opportunities given to him, particularly when he’s gifted with wide-open targets in that intermediate range of the field.

Luckily, no other team has allowed more yards than Seattle this season with 1,321. So, Garoppolo should have his share of opportunities to again match up effectively enough versus one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks.

And, hopefully, Wilson doesn’t post an Aaron Rodgers-like performance in response.