Rookie safety Malik Mustapha isn't quite sure what to expect when his San Francisco 49ers travel to Seattle this week to face the Seahawks at Lumen Field. Known for its passionate fanbase and deafening noise, it's a notoriously tough place to play.
Interestingly, Mustapha shared that many of his veteran teammates love playing in Seattle, which might be a surprise given the challenging environment.
"They actually love playing there—12th Man over there gets loud, gets rowdy," Mustapha told reporters on Tuesday. "It's better for us on defense because they're not going to get as loud when we're on the field. But it's just enemy territory. We know what needs to be done. They probably don't like us, like we don't like them, so it's going to be fun, for sure."
The 49ers have won five consecutive games against the Seahawks, including the playoffs. Two of those victories were at Lumen Field. Seattle's last home win over San Francisco was on December 5, 2021.
Tight end George Kittle, one of the team's veteran leaders, eagerly anticipates the NFC West showdown, hoping his team can improve to .500 instead of dropping to 2-4.
"I think, for the core group of guys that have been here who have won in Seattle, I think we've made it pretty clear, and [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] made it pretty clear, too, by just showing our last couple games that we've been up there, just how incredibly difficult of an environment it is to play in," Kittle explained.
"It's one of my favorite places to play because of their crowd. And one, it's a night game. Two, it's an incredibly loud field. Three, they hate us, and so it's extra loud, and I absolutely love that. It's one of the best environments in football, specifically for the 49ers."
Linebacker Fred Warner is also ready to offer guidance to any younger players who have yet to experience Seattle's intensity. However, he emphasized that it's not only the raucous crowd that makes playing there so challenging.
"Obviously, the crowd atmosphere is one of the best in the league, playing in front of their fans," Warner shared. "But Seattle's team itself, I feel like they're as close to how we play the game as I've competed against in my seven years playing here. It's always a battle. It's always a tight game to the very end. I expect it to be the same this week."
As the veterans share their insights, they focus on preparing their teammates for the difficulties that lie ahead.
"I think the vets who have played there, plus Coach Shanahan, showing those things, it hopefully got the younger guys who've never played there, or guys who have not played there as a Forty-Niner, into the mindset of, hey, this is a very difficult situation," Kittle remarked.
"You have to be really on top of everything—your silent count. A lot of the stuff on offense is just communication stuff because you can't really hear everything. So we have to be really on all that stuff if we want to go out and execute, which has been something we haven't done very well in the second half of these last couple games."
