The stakes already couldn’t be higher for Saturday night’s Week 18 showdown between the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers, which will determine both the NFC West title and the NFC’s No. 1 seed.
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But earlier this week, 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir added even more juice to the matchup when he called out Seahawks star wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba for the second time in less than a year.
“Hopefully I get to shadow JSN,” Lenoir said while speaking to the media on Monday. “I’m ready for this. Like, I hope he ready. … Man-to-man coverage, me and him. That’s what I want. Me and him.”
It was a bold statement by Lenoir, given that Smith-Njigba’s NFL-leading 1,709 receiving yards are currently the 14th-most in a single season in league history.
As a former NFL receiver, Michael Bumpus shared his perspective on Lenoir’s comments during the Four Down Territory segment on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy.
“That’s what (defensive backs) do,” Bumpus said. “The best trash talkers I’ve ever played against were DBs. They just run their mouth, and they have to be that way because they’re gonna get (beat) more than anybody else on the field.”
Smith-Njigba had nine catches for 124 yards in Seattle’s 17-13 loss to the 49ers in Week 1. However, according to Pro Football Focus, Smith-Njigba had no catches on only one target in that game when Lenoir was the nearest defender in coverage.
The 49ers mostly play zone coverage, so Lenoir likely won’t follow Smith-Njigba all over the field on Saturday night.
But when Smith-Njigba and Lenoir do find themselves matched up, Bumpus said it’ll be must-see TV.
“I cannot wait to see this matchup,” Bumpus said. “There’s going to be some words. I’m going to say Lenoir’s gonna get a penalty, because he’s going to take it too far. JSN knows how to toe line. He’s gonna get right there and (then) he’s gonna back up.”
Listen to the full Four Down Territory segment at this link or in the audio player near the middle of this story. Tune into Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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• Bump: It’s the Seattle Seahawks O-line’s time to shine vs 49ers
• The Reset: The reasons why Seattle Seahawks will beat the 49ers
• Seahawks-49ers Injury Report: Shaheed to play; Cross ruled out
• Daniel Jeremiah: What’s changed since Seahawks’ Week 1 loss to 49ers
