When Russell Wilson and the Seahawks defeated Jimmy Garoppolo and the San Francisco 49ers at Levis Stadium 28:21 in Week 4, the two rivals seemed to be going in opposite directions and the road team aggressively found their move to post halftime for 21 points explode .

But since then the script has been turned upside down. After a tough loss to an understaffed Arizona squad in Week 9, San Francisco climbed to sixth place in the NFC thanks to a three-game winning streak, while Seattle fell to the bottom of the league, losing six of the last seven competitions and eliminating them almost got out of the playoff competition.

What has changed for the 49ers since the first match? Over the past three weeks, coach Kyle Shanahan’s side has aggressively returned to their bread and butter, relying on rookie running back Elijah Mitchell and Swiss Army Knife Deebo Samuel to storm nearly 175 yards per game. With the ground play to compliment him, Garoppolo was extremely efficient under the middle, getting a pass rating of 117.0 while completing 71 percent of his passes with five touchdowns and one interception.

“They play the ball a lot more than they have and, especially in the last three weeks, as much as anyone else in football,” said Seahawks coach Pete Carroll on Wednesday. “They’ve found tremendous success at that. They’re a good perimeter team, they’re basically a zone running team, but with their dedication, they have man-block schemes, gap-block schemes, and they go along with a variety of things.” their perimeter people too, so they’re really committed. “

Meanwhile, San Francisco has given up 15 points per game defensively as it defeated the Los Angeles Rams, Jacksonville and Minnesota in consecutive weeks. Victory in the sales battle was critical to that success as the team intercepted three passes and won back a trio of fumbles and had a plus-five advantage in sales margin.

As the two bitter rivals prepare to meet again at Lumen Field, here’s a closer look at the Seahawks’ upcoming Week 13 opponent, including series history, additions / departures, key metrics, and Carroll’s rating of the 49ers.

Series history

46th meeting of the season. The Seahawks have dominated the series, winning 28 of the previous 45 regular season matchups while beating the 49ers in the 2013 NFC Championship Game.

Since that playoff game seven years ago, Seattle has won 13 of the last 15 games between the two rivals, including last season’s streak of home and away wins against San Francisco. The 49ers’ last win in the series came in December 2019 when they defeated the Seahawks at Lumen Field 26-21, keeping tight end Jacob Hollister out of the end zone in the final seconds to claim an NFC West title. San Francisco’s longest streak in the series was four games from 2010 to 2012, while Seattle won 10 straight from 2014 to 2018.

What’s new

Departures: San Francisco’s biggest loss came to the coaching staff when announced defensive coordinator Robert Saleh was hired as the new head coach of the New York Jets, taking on several assistants. Defensively, the team underwent significant changes in secondary school, allowing seasoned cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Akhello Witherspoon to go free. Along the defensive line, former first-round pick Solomon Thomas moved to the Raiders, while Kerry Hyder moved teams within the division to sign with the Seahawks. On the offensive, receiver Michael Bourne raced to New England and running back Tevin Coleman followed Saleh to New York.

additions: The 49ers’ biggest splash came weeks before draft weekend, when General Manager John Lynch packed up several first rounds to trade with the Dolphins in third place overall. While speculation raged about the team’s interest in Alabama quarterback Mac Jones, they instead selected Trey Lance, the South Dakota state star quarterback, as a possible heir to Garoppolo. San Francisco upgraded the inside of its offensive line to protect anyone below the center and signed Pro Bowl center Alex Mack. To replace Sherman and Witherspoon, former all-pro Josh Norman was signed before the start of the regular season, while former Rams linebacker Samson Ebukam has signed a two-year deal. Before the trading deadline, the team acquired the defensive end Charles Omenihu from the Texans for a sixth round draft in 2023.

Injury report

While San Francisco has plenty of momentum on its side en route to Seattle, the team will forego several key players in Sunday’s rematch. Top receiver Deebo Samuel, who has already overshadowed 1,000 yards this year, was dismissed with a groin injury, while all-pro linebacker Fred Warner was listed as doubtful playing with an Achilles tendon strain. Another key linebacker, Dre Greenlaw, won’t play on Sunday with his own groin problem either.

Within the scheme

With Kyle Juszczyk one of the few remaining real full-backs in the NFL, the 49ers deployed more double-back staffing than any other team in the NFL, and that trend has continued in 2021. So far, they have 21 and 22 employees used 43 percent of their offensive snapshots, second only to the Ravens. While a large part of the league mainly uses 11 employees, the 49ers with these groups only occupy 45 percent of their offensive games in 26th place.

Hailing from his father Mike Shanahan’s coaching tree, Kyle Shanahan still invokes more than any other running concept outside of the zone. But during his four seasons at the top he slowly mixed in more strength and counterattack concepts to further diversify the hectic attack. In fact, they ranked in the top 10 for performance and counter-run rate in 2020 according to Pro Football Focus, and the Seahawks should expect a steady dose of both in this upcoming rematch.

With Saleh in the lead, the 49ers heavily preferred Cover 3 and Quarters Coverage looks out of their base defense on early downs and didn’t flash much in those situations. But in obvious passing situations when they were playing nickel or dime packages, they put in more cover 1 looks with man underneath and were also much more aggressive with the lightning, putting five or more defenders on the third highest rate after the quarterback third place sent. They ended up in the EPA’s top 10 on all downs.

In 11 games under Demeco Ryans, who replaced Saleh, the 49ers haven’t changed much in terms of coverage systems. They still use cover-3 single highs (39.9 percent) and quarters (19.8 percent) mostly on early downs, and remain one of the least aggressive blitz teams as they only have 21.5 percent of their additional defenders Snaps per Pro Football have sent reference. Unlike in the last two years, however, they could not generate such constant pressure with four man storms and, according to PFF, have the second least total pressure in the league.

In numbers

31.6: 49ers points per game since week 10, third best in the NFL

3.84: Yards after contact per rush by rookie Elijah Mitchell, second best among the qualified runners

530: Yards of contact from Deebo Samuel, third most popular among NFL receivers

38.3: Third down conversion rate, 20th among NFL teams

6th: Sacks allowed percentage on the offensive line of the 49ers, 19th in the league.

10.4: Yards allowed per reception, ninth lowest in the league

2.96: Yards after contact by opposing runners, 27th in the NFL

1.36: Passing touchdowns per game allowed, tied for the seventh-fewest in the league

62: Touchdown percentage in the red zone for opponents, 19th in the league

100: Quarterback pressure, the second least among 32 NFL teams

Carroll’s thoughts

–On the advent of rookie running back Elijah Mitchell: “Well, they were really effective. The signing to the Rams a couple of weeks ago was really obvious that they are really looking for the running game, they are making great strides in the past three weeks, they are getting more yards every week and he was right in the middle of it. It’s tough and has really good speed. Everyone who runs for them looks great and that’s because they have a real commitment to it. They show and run the ball a lot and he is currently the leading ball carrier. “

– On Nick Bosa’s return to form in his third NFL season: “He’s as active as ever. You move him around more. You play him on the other side. We saw him a little above the center. You’re really trying to position it effectively. He’s a really good player and has a great engine. His power to fortify things he has, he just adds it to his rushs, along with the speed, makes him really very difficult. We have to take care of him. We have to make sure we know where he is and include him in our protective recordings. “

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The corner lot on 17th and Ord Streets in San Francisco’s Tony Corona Heights neighborhood doesn’t look like much. A nondescript, gray, three-story building stands next to a yard with a chain-link fence covered with poorly cared for ivy.

But this property has become a major focal point in San Francisco’s battle for housing – how much of it this city needs, where it should be, and who decides what will be built. When the owner suggested adding four more houses to the site – including two that would be affordable – the usual battles for neighborhood character, sunlight and diversity began.

The saga turned residents against each other with nasty emails, screaming matches and neighbors who no longer speak to each other. Call it the “real San Francisco homeowners,” and you could be producing a reality television show.

But the real bad guy isn’t the neighbors trying to block more apartments on the site. It’s the city’s outdated zoning regulations that turn small projects into explosive battles in a city with major housing problems.

Rich Hillis, the city’s planning director, also agreed with the assessment that the city’s own rules are to blame, which despite increased demand, a large homeless crisis, and a fleeing middle class severely restrict new housing construction in large parts of the city and dwindling diversity.

“There was a lot to like about that proposal,” said Hillis of the original plan for 4300 17th Street. “But our 1960s code doesn’t allow us to approve it.”

The drama began two years ago when Scott Pluta, a lawyer who worked in the Obama administration and now works for Google, bought the property. He lives on the third floor of the house with his wife Rosalind Pluta, who also works at Google. A tenant lives in a unit subject to rent on the second floor, while the garage, laundry room and workroom are on the ground floor.

Pluta examined his neighborhood and learned that it was 84% ​​white, had an average home value of nearly $ 2 million, and had no affordable housing units. He quickly forged ambitious plans for the property.

He suggested adding an affordable unit on the first floor of his building and adding three units in the garden, two at market prices and one at affordable prices. Both affordable units would be permanently handed over to the Mayor’s Office for Housing, and qualified tenants would be selected through the city’s lottery.

He wanted his property to serve as a kind of laboratory where an experiment could be conducted to find answers to the housing crisis in San Francisco. He knew adding four units was just a tiny piece of the city’s huge housing puzzle – the state has ordered San Francisco to build 80,000 new units by 2031 – but he hoped others could replicate that.

He envisioned six people or families living in small units nearby – maybe a public school teacher, he said, and families of color. It could become a paradise home to people who could have afforded the beautiful neighborhood just a short walk from Muni Castro train station. It could be a role model for similar projects in a city that says that it relies primarily on transit, needs affordable housing and wants more diversity.

Scott and Rosalind Pluta’s property, which is currently two units, is located on the corner of 17th Street and Ord Street in the Corona Heights neighborhood.

Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

“I wanted to do something that was in line with my progressive values,” said Pluta. “The ability to say, ‘I’ve built affordable housing in San Francisco.’ I know it’s cheesy, but it’s meaningful. “

For some of its neighbors, the garden is already a paradise, an open space that gives the surrounding houses more sunlight, air and a view. Pluta’s proposal is hellish in her opinion. Build too big and destroy the character of the block. And some of them say that Pluta pretends to be a social justice fighter when really he’s only there for the money. He said he would not make any money on the project.

At an irritable hearing in November, the planning commission continued the project, saying Pluta’s plan was not possible under the city’s current rules. So he scaled it down. It also lost an affordable unit.

At the request of Corbett Heights Neighbors, the hearing on the new proposal has been postponed for six weeks and is expected to take place in mid-October. The group said it needed more time to consider the new proposal but was also strongly against it.

Bill Holtzman, president of the neighborhood association, has just returned from the Paris apartment he and his wife own in Paris and said he was still in the process of catching up on the new proposal. But he said it was already clear that according to city rules, the new version was still devouring too much of the garden.

“Our association will always choose trees, grass, and shrubs because that’s what makes San Francisco San Francisco,” he said. “We consider backyards to be inviolable. Until the city or the state changes these rules, we will live by these rules and we will reject any violation of the codes. “

These codes are likely to change – one way or another. Hillis said Pluta would have a far better chance if he waited for Supervisor Rafael Mandelman’s proposal to allow quadruples on corner lots to be passed.

This law should be heard by the Planning Commission next month. A separate proposal from Mandelman to allow fourplexes on every single-family lot is not there yet.

Some other housing promotion policies are well received by the state legislature, and other ways to approve Fourplexes are being pursued by regulators other than housing legislation and election action.

A public hearing notice will be posted at Scott and Rosalind Pluta’s property at 17th and Ord Streets. Two of the units would be affordable housing.

Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

Mandelman remains largely neutral on Pluta’s proposal, although it gets to the core of what he has been advocating all year round. He said the project could end up on the board of directors, and there isn’t much he can say about it without looking biased ahead of that vote.

“This is the type of housing that I would like more of in the district,” he said, adding that his office would like to act as a mediator between the belligerent neighbors.

Maybe he wants to put on armor first. Pluta and several of his neighbors seemed to clash on both personal and political levels. Pluta thinks they are hypocritical NIMBYs. “It is this cartel that has restricted supply in order to maintain and increase the value of their properties,” he said.

His neighbor Casey Rando said Pluta initially outlined a much smaller proposal than the one he actually made. When Rando saw the plans, he lost his composure.

“I yelled at him and told him he lied to us,” he said. “He hasn’t been communicating with me since then.”

Rando, a gay man who moved to the neighborhood because of his proximity to Castro, said he hates being indicted by Pluta on “all of San Francisco’s racial problems” while Pluta has the money to hire a lobbyist and send one Create website.

“We’re literally three blocks from the rainbow flag and you won’t be lecturing gay men and women on diversity,” Rando said.

Pluta said he will keep trying the planning committee, but he doesn’t know if his shrinking project will ever fail. He never intended to make any money, but now he doesn’t know if he can break even. He could get approval, divide up the property, and hope the buyer would develop the garden.

Laura Foote, executive director of housing association YIMBY Action, said uncertainty is the problem. The outdated rules of the city lead to individual decisions, breaches of neighborhood and far too little living space.

“You could sit on the planning committee all day and those are all stories like this,” she said. “It’s all rich people yelling at each other and it’s the system as it was designed.”

It may be a popcorn worthy look, but it will never help us weather our housing crisis.

Editor’s Note: In an earlier version of this story, the number of units in the existing building was incorrectly stated.

The San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears on Sundays and Wednesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf

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