RENTON, Wash. -- It took Mike Macdonald several weeks to rewatch the Seattle Seahawks' 29-13 victory in Super Bowl LX. It was partly because of his packed schedule and partly because of his perfectionist ways. The head coach and defensive playcaller knew that even though his unit had dominated the New England Patriots, it had also made miscues that would eat at him once he saw them on film.
Macdonald had no such hang-ups about either of Seattle's two January victories over the San Francisco 49ers, a pair of defensive masterpieces in which the Seahawks held their divisional rivals out of the end zone -- first in Week 18, then again in the divisional round of the playoffs.
That was then.
The 49ers (4-0) and their offense are rolling heading into an NFC West clash with the Seahawks (3-1) on Sunday at Lumen Field. San Francisco ranks second in points per game (30.5), Brock Purdy leads the league in Total QBR (89.2), and the quarterback has a few playmakers who weren't on the team nine months ago.
"None of what happened last year matters," Seattle linebacker Ernest Jones IV said. "It's a new year, new season. They've got a hell of a group. They've put together four good games, won every one of them. Just like we have a new team, they've got a new team. They're doing some different things. We've just got to go out there and do our job."
In the first of two defensive performances that even Macdonald might have considered perfect, the Seahawks held Kyle Shanahan's team to 173 total yards in last year's regular-season finale, a winner-take-all affair in which the NFC West and No. 1 seed were on the line. Seattle intercepted one of Purdy's passes, forced two more turnovers on downs and limited Christian McCaffrey to 23 yards on eight carries in a 13-3 victory at Levi's Stadium.
When the Seahawks hosted the 49ers after their first-round bye, it was more of the same. Macdonald's top-ranked scoring defense allowed only 236 yards, generated three takeaways to go along with three more turnovers on downs, and bottled up McCaffrey again (35 rushing yards on 11 attempts) in a 41-6 rout.
"We tackled really well. We limited extra yardage. I thought we rushed the quarterback with discipline and married the coverage," Macdonald recalled this week. "That's what it takes to play really good football, in general. But the guys played hard, played physical, played well situationally."
Said safety Julian Love: "I think we communicated really well. I think these guys do a lot of stuff pre-snap, motions, shifts, crazy alignment-type things. For the most part, we have a good feel of our communication versus them. And then just man for man, understanding who you're lined up against. I think we match up well with them just body for body. I think that's our biggest advantage compared to any other team."