Latest Christian McCaffrey news might be good for the Seahawks in Week 6

There was a time not long ago with the Seattle Seahawks dominated the rivalry with the San Francisco 49ers. Between January 2014 and December 2021, Seattle won 15 of 17 meetings between the teams. Those times have changed.

In the last five meetings, the 49ers have won them all and the games have not been close. One reason San Francisco is the king of the NFC West currently is the lopsided matchups they have had with Seattle. Basically, if Seattle cannot beat San Francisco, what hopes does the team have to win the division?

Though we are still in Week 2 of the NFL season, Seattle has gotten a bit of good news about the matchup with the 49ers in Week 6. Running back Christian McCaffrey - a player who excels at both rushing and catching the ball - has been placed on IR with an Achilles injury. That means he will have to miss at least four games.

49ers running back Christian McCaffrey might be out against the Seahawks in Week 6

Should McCaffrey miss only those games, that could put him back for a return against Seattle on Thursday Night Football in Week 6? The issue for San Francisco would be that if McCaffrey is so hurt that he can't play for the next four weeks, expecting him back for a short week with little practice by the Seahawks game might be expecting too much.

More likely McCaffrey would return in Week 7 against the Kansas City Chiefs. That would make for a better matchup for the NFL to sell anyway. Seattle is fine when they are good, but the 49ers versus the Chiefs will feature the teams that faced off in last season's Super Bowl.

Of course, the 49ers did just fine without McCaffrey against a good New York Jets defense in Week 1, but McCaffrey was a late scratch so the Jets did not have time to game-plan against a San Francisco offense without its best player. By Week 6, Seattle should have a better idea of what to expect.

The key then would just be every other 49ers weapon. The good thing is that Mike Macdonald is likely better able to handle what any team has currently than Pete Carroll would.

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