What To Expect From The San Francisco 49ers / Seattle Seahawks Game This Sunday

The San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks love to hit and go after the ball. These are two tough teams. In fact, the whole NFC West was built off toughness. Each team needed to compete with what the other was building. This is the toughest division in the NFL.

This game, just like any other NFC West showdown, will be about toughness, physical & mental. There has been some trash talk between the two teams as of late. This will feed into the heads of some. The team that keeps a level head will prevail.

Here are a few take-a-ways from both teams in week 1:

San Francisco 49ers vs. Green Bay Packers

Offensively, they were nearly unstoppable. Colin Kaepernick threw for 412 yards. This wasn’t just his first game of 400 plus yards, but his first 300 plus yard passing game. The 49ers came in with a game plan, and that plan worked. Kaepernick is the real deal.

Kaepernick destroyed Green Bay in the playoffs last year, rushing for a quarterback-record of 181 yards. While Green Bay game planned for the read-option, 49ers opted to keep Kaepernick in the pocket and play as more of a traditional quarterback. He delivered. The end result was a 34-28 win.

Frank Gore has recently stated that Kaepernick’s passing yards last week should open up the run game a little more. I believe that is true and you will see a more balanced attack this weekend.

Defensively, the 49ers weren’t as tough as I expected them to be. Giving up 385 total yards of offense is not something to be proud of – even if it was against a potent offense like Green Bay. The one bright side, they held rookie running back Eddie Lacy to 41 rushing yards and a touchdown to go along with his 1 fumble (1 of 2 forced turnovers for the 49ers).

The 49ers will need to establish the run game against Seattle if they hope to win this week. They’re successful when they can run the ball and grind out a game, leaving their defense on the sidelines to stay fresh.

Seattle Seahawks vs. Carolina Panthers

A win is a win.

Seattle had their best offensive possession when they needed it most. They grinded out their last series, 1^st down after 1^st down. Russell Wilson had a great game. You wouldn’t expect to see 25 completions on 33 passes with 320 yards on the stat line of a 12-7 score.  Wilson did just that.

It was a slow start for Seattle. They struggled to stop Carolina’s run game and struggled to establish their own. But in the 4^th quarter, Wilson continued to make plays to lead his team victory.

Seattle’s defense was brilliant against Cam Newton, though. Newton was held to just 125 passing yards and 38 rushing yards. The Panthers had life while being down 12-7. A nice run by DeAngelo Williams looked to put them at in a 1^st and Goal situation, until…

Earl Thomas sealed the deal with a clutch strip to force a fumble by Williams at the 10-yard line. From there on, Wilson and company ran out the clock.

Like I said, a win is a win. Seattle will need to improve their run defense and offensive game flow if they wish to stay undefeated.

Sunday’s Match Up

Kaepernick and Wilson will have their hands full Sunday night as they take on one of the top defenses in the league, respectively. Can both of them repeat last week’s great performances?

What about the run game for both teams, can they get it going?

I see both teams trying to find a more balanced attack this week. Whoever succeeds in establishing the run will have the upper hand. It will come to the mental toughness of these guys when it’s all said and done. Mental mistakes, such as careless penalties, can control the outcome of this game.

Injury Update

Seattle’s DE’s Cliff Avril and Chris Clemons should make their season debuts as they were full participants in Thursday’s practice. This will be a huge boost to their defense, and should help in both the run game and with applying pressure to Kaepernick. DT Brandon Mebane was limited Thursday. Brandon Browner still hasn’t practice and is in jeopardy of missing another start. DT Jordan Hill also wasn’t able to practice.

LaMichael James is the only player on the 49ers injury report – he will be out this week. 

Prediction

This will be a close one. I’m calling it 24-20, 49ers. Their offense was way more in tune than Seattle’s last week. Wilson going for 320 yards, but only putting up 12 points wasn’t pretty. He got it done at the end, but they will have to finish drives early or they’ll be in for a long night against San Francisco.

The 49ers are much healthier, too. Seahawks should have a few returning starters, but their recent injuries will have to be monitored. I don’t see their recently injured defensive lineman getting a full workload and that could come back to haunt them in this one.