{"id":493321,"date":"2026-10-12T05:36:46","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T05:36:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/493321\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T05:36:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T05:36:46","slug":"kawakami-whats-different-about-the-2026-49ers-mike-evans-its-all-mike-evans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/493321\/","title":{"rendered":"Kawakami: What\u2019s different about the 2026 49ers? Mike Evans. It\u2019s all Mike Evans"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEATTLE \u2014 They were just one player away, after all. One tall, wry, tough-as-hell 33-year-old player. One great player at the very top of his game.<\/p>\n

One Seahawks-killing player.<\/p>\n

Just add Mike Evans to the 49ers\u2019 established culture and talent-filled roster \u2026 and watch him help lift this thing into the stratosphere.<\/p>\n

OK, maybe it isn\u2019t exactly as simple as that, because there were so many essential parts to the 49ers\u2019 chaotic, emotional, sloppy, heart-stopping, and potential season-defining 32-29 victory over the Seahawks at Lumen Field on Sunday.<\/p>\n

But if there was one thing that separated the 49ers from the Seahawks on this day \u2014 and last year\u2019s 49ers team from this one \u2014 it had to be Evans\u2019 series of contested receptions, especially his stunning four-catch burst on the long drive that put the 49ers ahead, 29-26, when anything else probably would\u2019ve led to a Seahawks victory. <\/p>\n

And to top it off, Evans also scored the two-point conversion after Purdy threw a TD pass to Brandin Cooks. While taking hits to his battered ribs the whole time.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a walking aura,\u201d Fred Warner said, breaking out in a smile and a chuckle when he was asked about Evans. \u201cI can\u2019t help it; I\u2019m on the sideline watching him doing crazy stuff, like, \u2018We\u2019ve got Mike Evans! I can\u2019t believe it.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s unreal. He really doesn\u2019t say anything. He just works. Then on Sunday shows up and just dominates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, the 49ers could\u2019ve used this in their last two meetings against Seattle \u2014 a dreary 13-3 loss to close the regular season at Levi\u2019s Stadium then the 41-6 obliteration in the divisional round back up here.<\/p>\n

The theme of those games: The 49ers didn\u2019t score a touchdown in either of those games, their receivers couldn\u2019t get open or snare catches in traffic, and Brock Purdy was completely swarmed over trying to manufacture plays.<\/p>\n

The theme of Sunday: In every huge moment, Purdy just threw it toward No. 5. And Evans, who ended up with 7 catches for 113 yards and a touchdown, almost always came down with it. (Also, Kyle Shanahan designed plays to get Evans lined up in man-to-man defense, mainly with Seattle cornerback Josh Jobe gamely but unsuccessfully doing everything possible to keep the ball away from him.)<\/p>\n

\u201cI do feel like I\u2019m one of the best receivers in the game,\u201d Evans said. \u201cAnd hurt or not, I\u2019m out there. And everybody\u2019s playing through injuries. And I\u2019ve got a big frame. So if you throw it around me, I\u2019ll do my best to make those contested grabs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 49ers did not sign Evans last March only to beat the defending-champion Seahawks, of course. They got him to be the featured outside \u201cX\u201d receiver they haven\u2019t had since Brandon Aiyuk\u2019s best seasons. (And Aiyuk wasn\u2019t this good even when he wanted to be on the 49ers.)<\/p>\n

They got Evans to beat everybody. To be the ultimate go-to guy \u2014 to go high up in the air, where no defensive back can follow, and produce first downs and touchdowns and everything else in every game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to come here for moments like this, obviously,\u201d Evans said. \u201cBut [also] just to be an asset to this team no matter who we\u2019re playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

This victory doesn\u2019t guarantee the 49ers anything. They also beat the Seahawks here to open last season, which didn\u2019t mean much when they were watching the Seahawks celebrate the Super Bowl title in the 49ers\u2019 locker room at Levi\u2019s last February.<\/p>\n

\"AEvans catches a 2-point conversion throw from quarterback Brock Purdy to cap off a 12-play, 74-yard touchdown drive. | Source: Sean Fan\/The Standard<\/p>\n

But however the seedings go in January, the 49ers know all too well that they have to be better than the Seahawks to be the NFL\u2019s best team. They have to feel it and know it. And now the 49ers are 5-0, with victories over both the Rams and Seahawks.<\/p>\n

Of course, they could\u2019ve lost this one in a hundred different ways. At times, the 49ers\u2019 offense looked just as overwhelmed against the amazing Seattle defense as Seattle\u2019s offense looked against the 49ers\u2019 young defense. There were seven combined turnovers. They were moments of panic for both teams. The whole thing was nerve-wracking.<\/p>\n

3 days ago<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n

5 days ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Thursday, Oct. 1<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

But that\u2019s what a big game is supposed to feel like. You have tough it out. You have to be tougher than the other team. And the toughest team on this day won the game.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t just that these two very good teams were feeling every bit of the pressure and atmosphere of a playoff game.<\/p>\n

Afterward, it felt like the 49ers had won a playoff game. And not a medium-sized one.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve got a bunch of warriors,\u201d Shanahan said. \u201cEveryone knows the talent of the stars and some of the guys on our team, but just what makes our guys special is how much they love football, how much they give it up every week. I never really have to get our guys going and ask them to work hard. It means as much to them as anyone I\u2019ve been around.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not looking for stats, they\u2019re not looking for praise. Those guys just wanna win and they wanted to win today big. And they deserved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

But back to Evans and that clutch drive, which began right after the Seahawks kicked a field goal to take a 26-21 lead late in the third quarter. <\/p>\n

\"AEvans looks into the crowd after scoring his first-quarter touchdown on Sunday. | Source: Sean Fan\/The Standard<\/p>\n

Early on, the 49ers faced first-and-20 after an offensive pass-interference call on Cooks, but Purdy immediately hit Evans for 15 yards to make it manageable. Later, Evans picked up a first down on a 9-yard gain. Then, on third-and-10 from near midfield, Purdy found a leaping Evans for 23 yards. The standout among standouts: A deep back-shoulder pass down the sideline for 28 yards down to the Seahawk 9-yard line on second-and-21.<\/p>\n

So Brock, was it just time to get it to Evans and keep getting it to him?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the way Kyle called the drive there sort of would answer your question on that,\u201d Purdy said, going for subtlety.<\/p>\n

Evans has won even more respect from the locker room for playing through the rib (or maybe a few ribs, but Evans won\u2019t say) injury he suffered in the Week 3 victory over Arizona. With Ricky Pearsall lost for the season, De\u2019Zhaun Stribling out for a few more weeks, Deebo Samuel exiting midway through this game with a hamstring issue, and George Kittle battling an illness, I\u2019m not sure what the 49ers would\u2019ve done if Evans wasn\u2019t out there.<\/p>\n

I know what they would\u2019ve done: They would\u2019ve lost, like they lost those past two games to the Seahawks. But Evans was out there. In some pain every time he got hit. Which meant he was making plays.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really cool to get new guys who come in and they just continue to up the standard that the Niners have built for so long,\u201d Christian McCaffrey said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a big statement from a player who rarely gushes about anything. <\/p>\n

But this might communicate even more: When McCaffrey walked to the podium immediately following Evans, he glanced at Evans, shook his head dramatically and said one sentence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat guy is unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Evans is a difference maker generally; very specifically, he\u2019s what the 49ers are all beginning to sense and enunciate: On Sunday and maybe for a lot more games, he was the difference between beating the Seahawks and not beating them. And the value of that in this division and this league is just about everything.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEATTLE \u2014 They were just one player away, after all. One tall, wry, tough-as-hell 33-year-old player. One great…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":493322,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[879,8757,1736,299,752,101,296,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-493321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-brock-purdy","tag-george-kittle","tag-john-lynch","tag-kyle-shanahan","tag-nfl","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}