Kyle Juszczyk praises Seattle: ‘Trading for Rashid Shaheed made a big difference’

San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk knows better than anyone what the Seattle Seahawks bring to the table.

The 10-time Pro Bowler has been a member of the Niners since the 2017 season and has been matching up against the Seahawks on an annual basis twice a year for nearly a decade. While the Niners generally have been the team to beat in the NFC West — they’ve been to the NFC Championship Game four times since 2019 — it is now the Seahawks who are looking down upon everyone.

The Seahawks clinched the NFC West and the No. 1 seed in the conference following their 13-3 victory over the Niners in the regular season finale. Despite San Francisco entering the game as one of the hottest offensive units in the NFL — they had averaged 45 points in their prior two games — they were held to a season-low three points. Prior to the game, their lowest output on the season was 15 points.

Juszczyk detailed why the Seahawks — who finished 14-3 this season — are so hard to beat now with Sam Darnold.

“Back-to-back seasons he’s had 14 wins — he’s one of only two quarterbacks to ever do that (the other one being Tom Brady),” said Juszczyk of Darnold in a one-on-one interview with Ahn Fire Digital. “That’s pretty dang impressive. For the Seahawks, what makes them so good is they do a great job of taking care of the football. They have a really good run game with a two-headed monster there, and then they can really make splash plays with JSN (Jaxon Smith-Njigba) and Rashid Shaheed and Cooper Kupp. They do a really good job of just being able to control the line of scrimmage and then take those shots when they need to.”

Juszczyk also paid similar compliments to the defensive unit which ended the year leading the NFL with 17.2 points allowed per game. It’s worth noting that head coach Mike Macdonald’s background is on defense. He previously led the Baltimore Ravens’ defense as the defensive coordinator during the 2022 and 2023 seasons prior to taking the Seahawks head coaching job.

“I think you kind of see the same thing on the defense where it all starts with the line of scrimmage,” said Juszczyk. “The defensive line is definitely top five in the league. Those guys are very hard to sustain blocks on. They do such a good job of shedding blocks. Linebackers play very aggressively downhill. You see a secondary that likes to get involved in the run game; their safeties are not scared to step up in there and and hit people. It makes for a very formidable team. I also believe they have one of the top special teams in the league. Trading for Rashid Shaheed made a big difference for them, so that’s a good team.”

Darnold has shut down the detractors with a second consecutive season of elite quarterback play. The 28-year-old ended the season ranked fifth in passing yards and 11th in passer rating. After leading the Minnesota Vikings to a 14-3 record last season, he has done the same thing in his first season with his new team.

It’s worth noting that Juszczyk and Darnold were once teammates when the veteran quarterback served as the backup to Brock Purdy during the 2023 season. It’s safe to say that experience playing with the Niners and under head coach Kyle Shanahan played a role in Darnold turning his career around.

“I’m extremely impressed by Sam,” said Juszczyk. “Loved him when he was here with us, and always thought there was a lot of potential there and that he could be a really good quarterback in this league.”

Assuming the Niners defeat the Philadelphia Eagles this weekend, they could very well be playing the Seahawks in Seattle in the divisional round. The lowest remaining seed in the NFC playoffs will play the Seahawks in the divisional round.