The Seahawks (4-5) head to the Bay Area this weekend to face the 49ers (5-4) at Levi's Stadium, Seattle's first game back after its bye week. Refreshed mentally and physically, the Seahawks hope to show that they used the extra time to clean up some of the mistakes that have plagued them in recent losses, and assert themselves as contenders in a tight NFC West race.

"We continue to move forward," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. "The guys are excited and in good spirits, and we've got a big week of prep ahead of us, and onward we go."

Here are five things to watch when the Seahawks head to Santa Clara to face the 49ers this weekend:

1. Does the defense build off the progress it showed in its last game, and also eliminate the big plays from the previous 49ers matchup?

While the Seahawks' most recent game, a Week 9 loss to the Rams, didn't end the way they had hoped, the play of Seattle's defense in that game was a very encouraging development.

In that 26-20 overtime loss, the Seahawks forced seven three-and-outs, tied for the most by a Seattle opponent this season, and they held the Rams to just 68 rushing yards and a 2.8 yards-per-carry average, a considerable improvement for a defense that had seen each of the previous four opponents rush for at least 155 yards while averaging at least 4.8 yards per carry.

"I think we played a little bit more attack, going to go get them a little bit more, and I think that helped a little bit," said veteran defensive tackle Jarran Reed. "When you get in a new defense, you're still trying to figure out your way around things, and I think when you put certain stuff together with the players you got, it helps you play that much better within the scheme you have."

Another improvement shown by Seattle's defense in its last game was cutting back on the huge plays that have been costly in previous games, including the Week 6 loss to the 49ers. Yes, the Rams managed a few big plays, including a 39-yard game-winning touchdown, but that was the longest play Seattle allowed, and the only one longer than 30 yards. Against the 49ers in Week 6, a considerable chunk of San Francisco's season-high 483 yards came on just a handful of plays, including a 76-yard touchdown pass to Deebo Samuel, a 76-yard run by Isaac Guerendo late in the fourth quarter to help the 49ers clinch the win, and a 38-yard run by Jordan Mason.

The 49ers offense is too talented and Kyle Shanahan's scheme is too good to expect any defense to completely shut them down, but the key for the Seahawks is keeping a successful play from turning into a game-changing explosive play, and to make that happen, tackling needs to improve so those modest gains don't become long plays that lead to scores.

"Those are the things that you can't have happen and you can't give the opportunity to give life to the offense and put them in a position where they're going to score immediately," defensive coordinator Aden Durde said. "Those are the kinds of issues that come up (against the 49ers in Week 6)."

And speaking of Seattle's defense…

2. How does the new inside linebacker tandem perform?

The Seahawks will have two new inside linebackers from the previous meeting against the 49ers, having acquired Ernest Jones IV in a trade three weeks ago, and having decided coming out of the bye to waive Tyrel Dodson, paving the way for rookie Tyrice Knight to be the likely starters (Macdonald said Drake Thomas could also see playing time there).

Jones has impressed in his first two games with the Seahawks, but now he'll be playing alongside a new linebacker next to him, and he'll also add the responsibility of being the on-field play-caller, a role previously held by Dodson.

"I just think just experience," Jones said of the difference between starting next to Dodson in the past two games and, presumably, Knight this week. "He hasn't played that many games, he won't have that on his side. But he comes to work every day; ever since I've been here, you could tell that he's a good player, that he uses his hands well, that he can flow and mimic the ball carriers, like me. I feel confident in knowing that when we get out there on Sunday, he's going to execute his job."

3. Which team wins on early downs?

Third-down conversions are often viewed as a key stat in football, and for good reason. Teams that convert on third down sustain drives, which should lead to more points, as well as fewer opportunities for an opposing offense. And so far this season, the 49ers have been one of the better teams in the league on third down, converting at a 43.3-percent rate, which ranks sixth in the NFL, while the Seahawks rank 24^th at 35.2 percent. But what matters as much as those numbers is what's happening leading up to that, and a big reason why the Seahawks haven't been a great third-down team is that they're putting themselves in bad situations on that key down. As ESPN analyst Benjamin Solak pointed out last week, the Seahawks average yards needed to gain on third-down is 8.9, which over the course of a season would be the highest such number since at least 1980 according to the Elias Sports Bureau and ESPN Stats & Info.

A huge factor in that number has been penalties and sacks on first down, and more recently, snap issues between Geno Smith and center Connor Williams that have resulted in shotgun snaps getting past Smith for huge losses.

The 49ers, meanwhile, are thriving on third down in large part because of the success they're having on first down, with their offense averaging 7.05 yards per play on first down, the second best number in the league behind Baltimore (7.2).

"This game, a large part of it's going to come down to how well each team plays on first down, and they obviously do a great job," Macdonald said. "I think we played it well in certain aspects in the first game. Obviously, we gave up some explosives on first down too, so trying to eliminate those types of things, putting ourselves in a better position, really just executing as a whole better. And of course, as coaches, we're trying to design and put ourselves in better situations so we feel like we have the upper hand in those situations as well. So, it's kind of a team effort."

4. Can Geno Smith and the offense play cleaner football?

When the Seahawks are playing clean on offense, they have looked great at times this season, but when penalties, sacks and turnovers, or in recent games, errant snaps, start to show up, drives stall out. That was the case against the 49ers in the last meeting with a promising opening drive ending on a red zone interception, and with other drives stalling out after penalties, and it has been a factor in every Seahawks loss, with Seattle committing 11 turnovers in its five losses, and having nine or more penalties in four of the five losses, including 23 in the past two games.

Smith, who was apologetic after throwing three interceptions against the Rams in his last game, knows the Seahawks have a lot of potential, but that to reach it he and the offense will need to be cleaner.

"I think we can beat anybody," Smith said. "I think we got the guys in this locker room, we got the coaches, we got the right mindset, we got the right work ethic. I think we have to be a little bit smarter and definitely be smarter in the situational area. And then also I think we've got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot, stop putting ourselves in backed-up situations early on. It's going to be tough in this league playing in third-and-longs. I mean the percentage rate is not high, so the more we can put ourselves in those manageable situations, the better we are, and we've been great in the third-and-medium game, so just thinking about first and second down, those are the big things is being better on first and second down, which will help us out on third down."

5. What does the return of Pro-Bowl playmakers mean for each team's offense?

The last time the 49ers and Seahawks faced off, San Francisco was without reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey, who returned from an Achilles injury to make his 2024 debut last week. Few non-quarterbacks in the NFL can affect an offense the way McCaffrey does, so the Seahawks know they'll need to be sharp facing a back who has rushed for more than 100 yards in all four games against the Seahawks since he joined the 49ers, scoring four total touchdowns.

"He's one of those jack of all trades," Jones said. "He can do it all. You can line him up at receiver, he can go out there and make his plays there. You give him the ball in the backfield, and he has a crease, he can make you pay. We've got a great task ahead of us this week with their team and what they have, but I know what we have, so I'm excited."

The Seahawks, meanwhile, are optimistic that they'll be getting DK Metcalf back after a two-game absence due to a knee injury, providing a big boost for the offense. Metcalf, who has 568 yards and three touchdowns in seven games, is the kind of player who can affect an entire defense with his presence.

"Tremendous for the offense, man," Smith said of Metcalf's potential return. "Just having DK back and what he brings, the leadership standpoint, just his physicality in the run game, and then obviously one of the best receivers in the game. When he's out there, he makes the defense think about where he's at at all times, and it allows other guys to get open and kind of have those one-on-ones and have those favorable matchups. Anytime DK is out there, he's a threat. He's always a big-play home run threat, and he's a guy that we count on. If he's out there, we know he's going to give it his all and he's going to be great."