Five 49ers to watch in Thursday night’s Week 6 game against the Seahawks – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

The season is young, but it’s getting boring for the 49ers.

The 49ers blew a double-digit lead against two NFC West opponents in the second half. And now they face the league-leading Seattle Seahawks in a game that could prove to be pivotal.

“It’s a lot of pressure,” 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa said. “It’s not an unconditional win because technically if it’s an unconditional win the season is over, but it definitely feels like it. This is how we deal with it.”

The 49ers are 2-3 this season, including 0-3 in the NFC. They are not well equipped for tie-breaks.

But first things first: you just have to win games.

Here are five 49ers to keep an eye on in their crucial NFC West matchup at Lumen Field in Seattle:

Security Malik Mustapha

The 49ers are turning to rookie Malik Mustapha, a fourth-round draft pick from Wake Forest, with Talanoa Hufanga out of action for at least four weeks with torn ligaments in his right wrist. San Francisco placed Hufanga on injured reserve on Wednesday.

Mustapha has moved up above veteran George Odum on the depth chart after Odum started the first two games of the season while Hufanga was still recovering from the ACL injury that ended his season last November.

“I think he’s made a lot of progress just from playing a lot,” 49ers defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen said. “We let a lot of boys play and I think it’s good that the boys gain knowledge by taking their snapshots.”

Kicker Matthew Wright

The 49ers don’t run away and win games easily, so every point counts. And that should also be the case on Thursday against the Seahawks.

Kicker Jake Moody is expected to be unable to play for about a month due to a high right ankle sprain. He was injured while attempting a tackle in the 49ers’ Week 5 game against the Cardinals.

The 49ers need a replacement, and Matthew Wright gets the call after winning a tryout at Levi’s Stadium.

Wright, who will wear No. 35, has made 40 of his 47 NFL field goal attempts. The 49ers are counting on him to keep things moving until Moody can return to action.

Defensive end Leonard Floyd

Defensive end Leonard Floyd overcame a bit of an early-season slump last week with three pressures and a sack on the Cardinals’ Kyler Murray.

He will continue to get opportunities to break through one-on-one blocks, while Bosa will attract a lot of attention on the other side.

Floyd needs to build on his play from last week, and getting to the quarterback should be a little easier this week since Geno Smith isn’t as elusive as Murray.

The 49ers are counting on Floyd to elevate his play to the level of double-digit sacks this season.

Quarterback Brock Purdy

The toughest game of Brock Purdy’s career came on Christmas night last year when he threw four interceptions against the Baltimore Ravens.

The architect of that defense, Mike Macdonald, is now responsible for calling the shots for Seattle. Macdonald replaced Pete Carroll as head coach in the offseason. The Seahawks reached the playoffs in 10 of Carroll’s 14 seasons.

Seattle may not have the players on defense that Purdy faced against the Ravens last year, but he certainly sees the plan.

“We looked at it in depth, just in terms of what we were trying to do, what their game plan was against our offense and our game plan,” Purdy said. “And when I watch it, of course I watch how the game went and the decisions I made and of course I learn from it.”

Purdy and the 49ers’ offense aren’t having the same success as last season, as the defense did a good job of limiting some of San Francisco’s strengths.

Now it’s up to coaches Kyle Shanahan and Purdy to make the adjustments to find yards and points in other areas.

Wide receiver Deebo Samuel

Wide receiver Deebo Samuel had a solid start to this season, at a time when Brandon Aiyuk was still finding his way and before Jauan Jennings put together two big games in a row.

The 49ers are in crisis mode after losses to the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals dropped them to 0-3 in NFC play.

In times like these, the 49ers have always turned to Samuel to galvanize the team through sheer determination and big-play ability.

Samuel will have to find a way to get the 49ers going, whether it’s by racking up big YAC numbers after catching short passes or taking handoffs from Purdy to give the offense a spark.

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