The Defense:

Defensively, the 49ers proved they are still incredibly dominant after yet another strong performance by their defense on Monday. For the majority of the game, MVP candidate Russell Wilson was unable to move the ball. When things were turning in favor of Seattle, the defense answered with a forced fumble returned for a touchdown. They are still arguably the best in the league.

Kyler Murray and Kliff Kingsbury found success against this unit in their previous matchup, success that no other team has found yet. Robert Saleh’s 49er defense has managed to hold every opponent to under 350 yards and to 20 points or less- except the Cardinals (The Seahawks had 27 points on Monday, but only 20 of those came from their offense). Kingsbury found success with a balanced running attack featuring Kenyan Drake, giving Kyler Murray easier passing situations. This time David Johnson will be back in the fold, who will need to have a performance that makes fans forget about his outing against the Bucs.

The key players for the 49ers defense are all still the same since Halloween night, though there are some differences since then. No. 2 overall pick Nick Bosa has seemingly cooled down a bit after an incredible start to his rookie year. He hasn’t registered a sack in his last two games, vs. the Cardinals and Seahawks. Still, the Cardinals can’t give him the opportunity to get him going again, or he’ll have a massive game and harass Kyler Murray.

In their win over the Cardinals, the 49ers lost inside linebacker Kwon Alexander for the rest of the season with a pectoral tear.. He was one of their biggest offseason acquisitions and was playing some great football. In his absence, Fred Warner has seen an increased role and has been solid as well. He was the player who very nearly picked off a Kyler Murray pass that may have gone for six.

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