NFC West Showdown - Week 14, 2013- Seattle vs San Francisco

Oh man, this is going to be good.

The Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers have become the best rivalry in all of the NFL (Sorry Pittsburgh and Baltimore the train has moved on). These two teams have become two of the best in the league over the last 2 years and when they play each other this Sunday the entire nation will be looking to catch a piece of the action. The Seahawks will be looking to clinch the NFC West with a win while the 49ers will be looking to keep hold on to the last wild card spot in the NFC.

The last time these two teams met was way back in Week 2, the 49ers traveled up north to Seattle and got drilled by the Hawks 29-3. In that game Colin Kaepernick was held to a mere 127 yards thru the air and just about every 4 receptions was to the defense (13 of 28) throwing 3 INT's and also lost a lost fumble on one of 3 sacks on the night. Russell Wilson didn't have a great game either, especially by his standards, throwing for 142 yards with one TD and one INT. Marhsawn Lynch was the real trouble maker for the 49ers, rushing for 98 yards on 28 carries and 2 TD's. As for the defense, they were able to hold San Francisco's most lethal attack, RB Frank Gore, to just 16 yards on 9 carries, while at the same time the secondary was blanketing Kaepernicks favorite two targets in WR Anquan Boldin and TE Vernon Davis, holding both to a combined 4 receptions for 27 yards as well as throwing 2 INT's while throwing the ball in their direction.

That was Week 2 and we are now going into Week 14, 3 months later, and both teams are working on setting themselves up for a long playoff run.



(AP)

The Seahawks will need to continue running the ball as usual to come out of Candlestick with a win. Marshawn Lynch has 5 total TD's in his last 2 games against the 49ers and his dominance over their rival should continue this Sunday. Russell Wilson lost his first game to the 49ers last season, back when Wilson was being held to a small portion of the offensive playbook and Alex Smith was the 49ers QB. Wilson will be able to use a lot more of the playbook this time around and is currently looking like top MVP candidate. They may be without WR Percy Harvin who is still having some hip problems, CB Brandon Browner has made his return to the practice field but is awaiting the outcome of his appeal on a 1-year suspension for violating the leagues substance abuse policy.

The 49ers will be looking to keep their Wild Card hopes alive with a 1-game lead over fellow NFC West rival ARI. Kaepernick has been on a great roll as of late winning their last 2 games after suffering two tough losses to the NFC South's CAR and NO. During their current 2 game winning streak they have held their opponents to only one TD and 4 FG's. They have also got back a major weapon on offense with the return of WR Michael Crabtree who is slowly trying to shake off the rust from his ACL injury he suffered early in the year. San Francisco may be without 2 of their starting offensive lineman with LT Joe Staley (Knee injury) and LG Mike Iupati (MCL injury) who play a major role for the 49ers in running the ball and protecting the QB.

I think this game will be decided in the trenches and unfortunately for San Fran who will be without 2 offensive lineman, Seattle is finally getting used to playing with all of theirs.

 

Prediction:

SEA over SF 27-14

Check out the rest of my "NFL Week 14 Preview and Predictions"

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