Seahawks vs. 49ers: Wild Card preview and prediction
Against all odds, the Seattle Seahawks are gearing up to play postseason football this weekend. Thanks to some Sunday night magic from the Detroit Lions, who vanquished the rival Green Bay Packers, the Seahawks have qualified as the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoff picture. Unfortunately, their reward for earning a playoff berth is to face their own rivals, the San Francisco 49ers.
San Francisco is an absolute juggernaut this year and are currently on an astonishing 10-game winning streak. Not to mention, the 49ers swept the Seahawks in the season series for the first time since 2011, even winning the NFC West crown at Lumen Field.
Unsurprisingly, the 49ers open as -9.5 point favorites. Interestingly, this was the same point spread for their Week 2 showdown… a game the 49ers easily covered in a 27-7 rout.
Saturday afternoon will be the second meeting in the postseason between the Seahawks and the 49ers, with the first being the iconic 2014 NFC Championship game where Seattle won 23-17 to advance to Super Bowl XLVIII.
Additionally, Saturday will mark the 24th instance in NFL history since the 1970 merger that two teams meet in the playoffs where one swept the other in the regular season. In these games, the team who swept the other is 14-9 in the playoffs. Although, the last time this scenario unfolded was last year’s NFC Championship between the Rams and 49ers. Despite winning both games against the Rams last year, San Francisco lost the third matchup.
All the pressure in the world is on San Francisco, head coach Kyle Shanahan, and seventh round rookie quarterback Brock Purdy to defeat a Seahawks team not many expect to do much in the playoffs. Conversely, the Seahawks are in a sense playing with house money. They are free to embrace the underdog mentality to its full extent.
However, while I believe the Seahawks will avoid another blowout and keep the game competitive, it is still difficult to see them outright upsetting the 49ers. San Francisco is too stacked at nearly every position. In both games, the defense played admirably, but the offense could barely move the ball. I suspect a similar outcome on Saturday.
Prediction: 49ers over Seahawks 20-17.
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