Don’t let the gaudy 46-27 score deceive you, because the San Francisco 49ers actually put up a valiant fight against the defending NFC champs, the Carolina Panthers, in Sunday’s Week 2 showdown.
While it’s clear that the Niners defense could barely contain Carolina’s prolific offense, this inexperienced stop unit actually mustered up four takeaways that afternoon. San Francisco was even behind by just seven points with less than eight minutes left in the contest before a couple of late picks thrown by Blaine Gabbert sealed the deal for the Panthers.
Yes, those two interceptions were back-breaking, but Gabbert has shown quite a great deal of improvement to his game as opposed to the previous season. The six-year QB had 243 passing yards to go with three TDs (two passing and one rushing) against the stifling Carolina D, having connected with seven different Niners receivers at that.
However, San Fran’s brutal early-season schedule continues this coming Sunday with a dreaded trip to Seattle, where the team has lost seven of its last eight meetings with the Seahawks (0-8 ATS). One thing we should keep in mind, though, is that their most-reviled division rival isn’t playing up to expectations either. The Seahawks were stunned by the upset on Sunday at the hands of the lowly Los Angeles Rams (more on that later), and it was the 49ers who just shutout the Rams, 28-0, in Week 1. Having said that, don’t be surprised if the Niners can keep another sputtering offense in check this weekend.
Are these the real Seattle Seahawks were seeing right now? They were just embarrassed by the Rams on Sunday, 9-3, with some very sloppy play (10 penalties for a whopping 114 yards) and an offense that’s in total disarray.
Russell Wilson threw for 254 yards in the loss, which was the second-straight game that he had failed to breach the 260-yard passing mark after throwing for over 4,000 yards in the 2015 season. Wilson must’ve also felt de-virginized all over again (but in a bad way) after the Seahawks failed to score a touchdown in a contest since 2012.
Seattle must really miss Marshawn Lynch by now too, as Christine Michael does not appear to be the team’s answer for Lynch’s departure. No less than 60 rushing yards in two-consecutive games this season is solid and all, but Michael only had 10 carries on Sunday to reach that point, which meant that the team’s running game could’ve played a bigger factor in the decision. Then again, it was also Michael who coughed-up and lost an ill-fated fumble with less than a minute left in the contest to seal the win for the Rams.
Well, at least the Seahawks’ trusty defense is getting the job done, as their daunting stop unit has allowed just a total of 19 points and a single TD through the first two games of the season. Then again, their offense is in really bad shape. Perhaps their usual fireworks will explode this coming Sunday in CenturyLink Field, where they’ve won four of their last five games (3-2 ATS), including last year’s 29-13 drubbing of the Niners.
Writer’s Prediction
Not only do the 49ers cover the relatively wide +9.5 spread, they also actually notch a rare and shocking victory in Seattle, 24-20.
