Seahawks vs 49ers preview, odds and prediction 

It all comes down to this. After 17 regular season weeks, it’s the San Francisco 49ers hosting the Seattle Seahawks in a massive matchup in the NFC. The winner gets the one seed, a first round BYE and home oil throughout the playoffs.

Niners season

The Niners haven’t made the noise or headlines that the Seahawks or the Los Angeles Rams have made, but they have been waiting for their turn to pounce, and now they can sneak in and snag the top seed on the final weekend before the playoffs.

San Fran has battled injury on both sides of the ball, starting with Brock Purdy who was forced to miss eight games in the first 10 weeks of the season with a turf toe injury. Then the defense took a couple of massive hits when Fred Warner and Nick Bosa went down with season ending knee injury. The Niners just kept winning.

Purdy is back and Robert Saleh has been able to fill in the gaps left with their two studs sidelined for the season on the defensive side of the ball. The Niners now know if they win on Saturday night, they will have a BYE next week, and then home field for the playoffs, and have a chance to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium on February 8th.

Seahawks season

The Seahawks went through a bit of a makeover last offseason, moving on from quarterback Geno Smith and bringing in Sam Darnold after his resurgence in Minnesota last year. He led them to wins in three of their first four games and seven in their first nine.

With Darnold following up a career year with another steady year under center a top defensive unit to back him they have a chance at winning the NFC but they know they are going to have to do it in San Fran at the home of their division rivals.

Seahawks fans will be hoping it’s not going to be dejavu for Darnold who was in a similar situation last year. He and the Vikings had a Week 18 game against the Detroit Lions with the winner taking the one seed in the NFC and the loser getting a Wild Card spot. Darnold struggled, the Vikings lost and Darnold would end up struggling even more in the next week as the Vikings got dumped out of the playoffs in the first round.

Odds and prediction

These two teams met in the first week of the season and the 49ers won that game 17-13 on a late Brock Purdy pass to Jake Tonges to take the lead deep in the fourth quarter. Darnold had a chance to win the game in the final seconds but was picked off the end zone and the Niners held on start the season off on the right foot.

This week, the oddsmakers are predicting a tight game from San Francisco. The Seahawks are 1.5 point favorites from Levi Stadium and the Over/Under is set at 47.5 points.

• Spread: Seahawks (-1.5)
• Over/Under: 47.5
• Money line: Seattle -120, San Francisco +101

I’m going with the Niners at home. They have come this far, against all odds, and they know opportunities to play every playoff game in the comfort of your own stadium doesn’t come around all the time. Purdy is rolling and has thrived in situation like this, while Darnold has been in this position and stumbled. It’s going to be a high scoring affair, and a much different looking game than the Week 1 match up but the Niners win 34-27.

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