The Seattle Seahawks are heading into a critical matchup tonight against the San Francisco 49ers. Facing this team in recent years has always been a daunting prospect, as Seattle's most bitter division rivals have dominated the last five meetings between these teams. As shaky as the Seahawks looked last week, it's understandable if fans are feeling less-confident than ever about their chances against Kyle Shanahan's superteam.
However, the good news is that these Niners are struggling just as much as Seattle right now, having blown a big lead against Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals just as the Seahawks were getting upset by the visiting New York Giants. Seattle is still leading the NFC West race by one game and if they can come out on top this week, it will be a great sign for the rest of their season. Here's everything you need to know about tonight's game, beginning with what to watch for.
Seahawks-49ers: What to watch for
The 49ers don't seem to be missing Christian McCaffrey much, but something is clearly wrong in Santa Clara as they've stumbled into this critical Thursday Night Football matchup with a 2-3 record. Even better, only the Minnesota Vikings look like a contender among the team's they've lost to. On the flip side, the team's they have beaten (New England Patriots, New York Jets) are getting dismal results at the quarterback position in general.
Then again, Seattle might still be a little bit punch drunk from the beating they took at the line of scrimmage last Monday night against the Detroit Lions. While they had a pretty legitimate excuse in that practically their entire defensive line was out, the Seahawks nevertheless may have had their confidence shattered - at least momentarily - based on the way they played against the Giants.
Hopefully rookie head coach Mike Macdonald can turn things around, but it may be a case similar to what happened last season when the Seahawks got brutalized by the Baltimore Ravens to the tune of 298 rushing yards allowed in a 37-3 loss. After that Seattle's tackling dropped off a cliff the rest of the season, and it sure looked like their will had been broken. No matter what the end result is for tonight's game, it will be absolutely critical for the Seahawks to perform better on both sides of the line of scrimmage than they have the last few weeks, or else they might be headed for a similar collapse.
Seahawks injuries
That's not going to be easy, because Seattle's defensive unit is in dire straits due to injuries. Byron Murphy II, Uchenna Nwosu and Riq Woolen have already been ruled out for tonight's game. Meanwhile, Julian Love, Boye Mafe and Derick Hall are all listed as questionable. Nwosu's absence has been the most profound, as the Seahawks have struggled setting the edge against the run in multiple games this year. They were lucky to escape with a win over the New England Patriots, but both the Lions and the Giants were able to run over them at will. Macdonald has to try to figure something out schematically, because the 49ers are always great at running the ball no matter who's in the backfield and they're not afraid to lean on it in the exact opposite way the Seahawks leaned on Geno Smith on Sunday.
49ers injuries
The good news is that the 49ers are far from healthy, as well. McCaffrey hasn't played yet this season and a bunch of important players have missed multiple games. This week they will be without starting safety Talanoa Hufanga, who was just placed on injured reserve. A potential far greater loss is kicker Jake Moody, who is out with an ankle injury. Their key cornerback Charvarius Ward is also listed as questionable. Fred Warner and George Kittle were also on the injury report this week but they're good to go after being listed as full participants at practice on Wednesday.
How to watch
Tonight's game will be streamed live on Amazon Prime, with the pregame show beginning at 4:00 p.m. Pacific time, 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Pacific. Amazon's broadcast crew includes former Seahawks and 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman, and they also have a regular feature with franchise legend Marshawn Lynch visiting various cities with NFL teams.
Seahawks-49ers prediction
Our confidence level in this team right now is about a one out of 10, especially how they'll matchup against Shanahan's loaded offense with so many defensive starters out or not playing at 100%. In theory, Macdonald should bounce back after getting embarrassingly-outcoached by Brian Daboll and the Giants last week. He wasn't playing with anything close to a full deck, but he also got out-maneuvered by Ben Johnson in the previous game. It's easier said than done with so many injuries to deal with, but Macdonald has to bring his A-game against the team he was hired to stop. We believe he will and his success against Brock Purdy last year with the Baltimore Ravens makes us think it will translate into a win - especially since the Niners are missing their kicker. Seahawks 24, 49ers 23.
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