Thursday Night Football will feature a matchup with enormous playoff implications for the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers, who will square off at Lumen Field in the Emerald City.
San Fran have jumped ahead of Seattle for the lead in the NFC West, having won their last six encounters, while the Seahawks are two games behind them in second, winning just one of their previous four NFL affairs.
Match preview
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What began as a fairytale story about silencing the critics has become a fight for survival for Pete Carroll and the Seahawks.
Their grip on the division has loosened as the season has progressed, and they find themselves below the playoff line at the moment, with seven wins, the same as the New York Giants, but the team from the Meadowlands ahead of Seattle with one fewer loss.
Before their game in Germany against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Seahawks had exceeded their pre-season expectations, winning five of their six games played from the start of October.
Following that 21-16 loss to the Bucs in Munich, their play has dropped significantly, turning the ball over at least once in three straight games and losing three of their last four meetings versus clubs currently below .500.
One of the many areas which needs improvement is the Seahawks' pass protection, as their offensive line have allowed three or more sacks in four successive outings, while as a team, they have accumulated fewer than 100 yards rushing in each of those games.
Defensively they have produced multiple interceptions in three of their last four games, with at least one sack in two of their previous three.
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In 2022, no-one has been as consistent defensively as the 49ers, who have allowed a league-low 286.8 yards per game, with a turnover differential of +6 and 36 sacks, the eighth most in the NFL this season.
Even with a third-string quarterback at the controls, the Niners looked just as good, if not better, on the offensive side last Sunday, finding the end zone five times, rushing for 209 yards and accumulating a total of 404 yards in a 35-7 blowout victory over Tampa Bay.
Three of the following four San Francisco encounters will be against teams in the NFC, a conference that they have defended well against all year, conceding fewer than 20 points versus those teams in eight of their nine meetings in 2022, holding Seattle to under 10 points in week two, winning 27-7.
A victory for Kyle Shanahan's team on Thursday would put them on the cusp of another division title, the first for them since 2019-20 when San Fran made it to the Super Bowl.
Understandably their defence has been the focal point of this club throughout the year and a significant part of its success, however, away from home, the Niners' offence has stepped up lately, scoring 30 or more points in three of its previous four road contests.
As the saying goes, it's not how you start but how you finish, and that is another reason this team find themselves well positioned to return to the post-season, as they have not allowed any fourth-quarter points in five of their last six games.
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Team News
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Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith has regressed a little over the past few weeks, tossing a pick in four of his last five games, including two on Sunday in a 30-24 loss to the Carolina Panthers.
Travis Homer only averaged 2.9 yards per carry in that defeat, while Marquise Goodwin had five catches for 95 yards and DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett had five grabs each for 71 and 60 yards respectively.
Jordyn Brooks made five tackles in the loss to Carolina and sits second in the NFL this season with 141, while Cody Barton led them last Sunday with seven, one more than Ryan Neal, and Tariq Woolen is tied with CJ Gardner-Johnson for the league lead in interceptions with six.
Abraham Lucas is dealing with a sore elbow, Will Dissly could miss this game due to a calf strain and Kenneth Walker has a sprained ankle, as does DeeJay Dallas.
In his first professional start Mr Irrelevant, aka Brock Purdy, threw for a pair of touchdown passes, one to Brandon Aiyuk and another to Christian McCaffrey, who also ran for 119 yards and a score, while Dre Greenlaw had an interception in the 49ers' sixth straight triumph.
Nick Bosa failed to register a sack last Sunday, but he still leads the league with 14.5, Jimmie Ward and Charvarius Ward combined to make 12 tackles, while Tashaun Gipson also picked off the Bucs' Tom Brady.
The Niners lost another significant component to their offence on Sunday as Deebo Samuel was carted off with what his coach called a high ankle sprain that will keep him out for several weeks, Samuel Womack has a concussion and Hassan Ridgeway remains sidelined due to a torn pectoral muscle.
Jimmy Garoppolo will not be available because of a problem in his foot, and Kevin Givens continues to recover from a knee injury.
Head To Head
San Francisco's victory against Seattle earlier in the year was their first versus the Seahawks since 2019, as Robbie Gould kicked a pair of field goals, Kyle Juszczyk ran for a score and Ross Dwelley had a 38-yard touchdown catch.
Seattle have won the last two meetings versus the 49ers in the Pacific Northwest, capturing a 30-23 victory in December of last year when their former QB Russell Wilson threw a pair of touchdowns, Travis Homer ran for a 73-yard score, and Adrian Peterson had a one-yard rushing TD.
The most memorable outing between the two recently occurred in the NFC championship game in January 2014 when Jermaine Kearse had a touchdown catch, and Marshawn Lynch ran for a score.
In that encounter, Richard Sherman knocked a Colin Kaepernick pass intended for Michael Crabtree into the arms of his teammate Malcolm Smith for an interception, leading to an iconic rant by the now-retired cornerback out of Compton in his post-game interview about Crabtree as the Seahawks won 23-17 and went on to capture their only Super Bowl to date.
We say: Seattle Seahawks 17-30 San Francisco 49ers
These teams are going in the opposite direction at the moment and given how poor the Seahawks' offensive line have been regarding pass protection, it is hard to envision them containing one of the NFL's best defensive linemen in Bosa or being able to move the ball consistently against the Niners.
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