With three teams in the division below .500, Week 7’s matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and their bitter rival San Francisco 49ers will be as crucial as ever. The Seahawks cannot afford to have five losses under their belt less than half-way through the season, while the Niners want to continue to prove their preseason doubters wrong by finally getting a statement win over a top-tier opponent.
Who will emerge victorious in the upcoming Thursday night clash between two of the most heated adversaries in the league? Find out what’s in store with our complete breakdown below. For more coverage on Week 7’s pivotal divisional matchups, check out our previews for the New York Jets vs. New England and Oakland at San Diego right after this.
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Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers Preview
Where: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara
When: Thursday, October 22, 2015 8:25 PM ET
Line: Seattle Seahawks (-6.5) at San Francisco 49ers (+6.5); total: 42.5 – view all NFL lines
TV Broadcast: CBS
Betting on the Seattle Seahawks (2-4)
[sc:NFL240banner ]Raise your hand if you’re one of the few people who predicted that the Seattle Seahawks would be two games under .500 after six weeks of play.
Yup, this has been quite a surprise for football fans and the Seahawks organization indeed, as the team squandered yet another huge fourth quarter lead on Sunday to fall to the (still) undefeated Carolina Panthers, 27-23.
Cam Newton connected with Greg Olsen on a touchdown pass with 32 seconds left in the game to hand Seattle its second-straight loss after leading by two possessions in the fourth quarter. The Seahawks were actually up by nine points in the fourth, only for Newton to lead back-to-back 80-yard TD drives. Seattle has now been outscored 40-3 in the fourth quarter and overtime in its past three games.
The loss was also just the third-career home loss for Russell Wilson, who finished the contest with a ho-hum 241 yards and a touchdown on 18-of-30 passing. If there’s any key takeaway from this crushing defeat, though, is that Wilson is finally gelling well with tight end Jimmy Graham, who had eight catches for 140 yards.
However, Seattle’s bread-and-butter wasn’t efficient at all against Carolina’s front seven, as Marshawn Lynch’s return from a one-week absence was stifled. Lynch finished with a mere 54 yards on 17 carries, but did find the end zone as a consolation.
For the Seahawks to snap out of their unlikely funk, they will need to be stout against the 49ers’ running game. San Francisco is currently sixth in the league with 129 rushing yards per game, but is coming off a 65-rushing-yard outing this past Sunday. Seattle, meanwhile, is seventh in the league against the run – just 92.6 yards per contest allowed.
Seattle is 4-1 SU and 5-0 ATS against San Francisco for the past five meetings, with the total going under in all of those contests.
Betting on the San Francisco 49ers (2-4)
A huge 25-20 victory over the Baltimore Ravens this past Sunday snapped the San Francisco 49ers’ four-game skid – both for the season and against their Super Bowl XLVII opponents.
And how fitting it was that two former Baltimore wideouts that are now playing for the Niners were the ones who dealt the most damage against their old team. Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin combined for eight catches and 198 receiving yards, with Smith finding the end zone once on Sunday.
Both receivers made quarterback Colin Kaepernick look good; Kap had 340 yards in the air in the win – the second-highest single game output of his career – and even had three completions of over 50 yards gained. Kaepernick’s arm has to be present once again this Thursday against the Seahawks’ secondary, which has owned him for the past couple of seasons.
The Niner defense also came through in Week 6, picking off Baltimore’s Joe Flacco twice in the contest. However, their secondary still allowed Flacco to throw for 343 yards, and the front seven failed to sack him as well. San Francisco is currently 30th in the NFL against the pass by allowing nearly 300 passing yards per game, and must now try to contain the seemingly improved downfield connection between Wilson and Graham.
The 49ers are 6-4 over their last 10 home games. But they are 3-7 ATS in that same span, and the total has gone under in eight of those occasions as well.
Writer’s Prediction
San Francisco (+6.5) with a shock win over the free-falling Seahawks, 21-17.
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