The San Francisco 49ers visit the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night in a battle between the top two teams in the NFC West Division standings.
San Francisco has taken over the division after winning its last six games while the Seahawks have fallen back with three losses in their last four games. As it stands heading to Thursday, the Niners are 9-4 SU while the Seahawks are now 7-6 SU on the season.
The 49ers dominated Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week while the Seahawks fell behind early and could not catch up with the Carolina Panthers in a disappointing loss.
The 49ers are the hottest team in the NFL right now with six consecutive wins. San Francisco’s defense has been stifling and that has helped them win their last four games by double digits and cover the betting spread in all four games. In their last game, they defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-7.
Brock Purdy has played well in his two starts. He threw for 210 yards against the Dolphins and then followed that up with 185 yards on 76% completion against the Bucs. Purdy has thrown for 461 yards with a TD: INT ratio of 4:2 during those two games. Purdy is dealing with a rib injury but is expected to play on Thursday. If in case he cannot, Josh Johnson could play under center.
Seattle has not only yielded the division lead but they are trending downward with three defeats in their last 4 games played. The Seahawks are coming off a disappointing 30-24 loss to the Carolina Panthers in a game where they were three-point favorites. They still hold a wild card spot but have little margin for error.
Geno Smith has thrown six TD passes in his last two games played but he threw two picks last week. Smith has passed for at least 260 yards in 8 total games this season and has amassed 3,433 passing yards with a 25:8 TD: INT ratio. RB Rashad Penny is out for the season while Kenneth Walker III is questionable.
The 49ers are 3-15 SU in their last 18 games played against the Seahawks. San Francisco is also 1-3 SU in their last 4 games played in Seattle.
San Francisco 49ers SU trends:
Seattle Seahawks SU trends:
Third-string quarterback Brock Purdy turned to Mr. Relevant from Mr. Irrelevant when he became the first player making his first NFL start to beat Tom Brady as the 49ers blew out the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last weekend.
Purdy threw for two TDs and rushed for another as San Francisco took a 28-0 lead at the half. Unfortunately for San Francisco, Deebo Samuel suffered a high-ankle sprain and I expected to miss the remainder of the regular season.
Samuel ran for 13 yards for the first touchdown of the game while Christian McCaffrey scored two TDs – one on a catch from a Purdy pass and a TD run in the third that sealed the win for the 49ers. The San Francisco defense also dominated Tampa Bay as it forced Tom Brady to two interceptions in arguably his worst performance of the season.
The Seahawks allowed themselves to fall into an early 17-0 hole and never recovered. They got close at 20-17 in the third quarter on a 27-yard field goal by kicker Jason Myers. However, the Seattle defense could not stop the Carolina rush offense which amassed 223 yards on 46 carries with two TDs.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks played without rookie running back Kenneth Walker III who was out with an injury. The team rushed for a total of only 46 yards on 14 carries while playing catchup.
In the first meeting between these two teams, the 49ers rushed for 189 yards with two touchdowns. Things could be much tougher on Thursday with the 49er now having Christian McCaffrey.
San Francisco had the perfect plan in Purdy’s season debut. They let the running game dominate and did not let the rookie do too much. The Seattle crowd which has been a factor in the past isn’t so much anymore. If the San Francisco defense and McCaffrey play well, it’s going to be a long night for Seattle.
Having Kenneth Walker III back would be big for Seattle. However, the main thing for them will be the play of QB Geno Smith. Four out of Smith’s 8 interceptions this season have come in his last three games played. He must avoid turnovers if the Seahawks want a shot at winning this game.
Seattle has historically dominated this matchup but things are different this year. The 49ers are on a roll and the Seahawks are on a downward trend. I think that the 49ers’ offense has gotten much better with the addition of CMC. That offense has been so good that at least in their last game, it didn’t really matter who the QB was.
Prediction: San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers are 6-15-1 ATS in their last 22 games played against the Seahawks. San Francisco is 2-8-1 ATS in their last 11 games played in Seattle. The home team is also 4-1 ATS in the last five head-to-head meetings between these two teams.
San Francisco 49ers ATS trends:
Seattle Seahawks ATS trends:
49ers
-3.5 (-110)
Seahawks
+3.5 (-110)
Odds from BetOnline as of 12/14/2022
The 49ers are on a roll with six consecutive wins. Meanwhile, the Seahawks have dropped three out of their last four games. Basically, these are two teams heading in opposite directions.
San Francisco has lost its starting QB twice already this season. But in their first game without Jimmy G, the 49ers’ offense looked fine. Brock Purdy has connected on 70% of his passes over the past two weeks while Christian McCaffrey rushed for 119 yards last week and should be able to make easy work of the 31st-ranked rush defense in the NFL.
With Rashad Penny out of the season and Kenneth Walker III questionable, the Seahawks will lean on Geno Smith to win this game. However, Smith has thrown 4 INTs in his last three games played. And he will be facing a 49ers defense that shackled Tom Brady last week.
San Francisco dominated Seattle 27-7 in their first meeting of the season. This one should have more or less the same result.
Prediction: 49ers -3.5
The total has gone over in six out of the last 9 head-to-head games between the 49ers and Seahawks. The over is also 3-0-1 in their last four meetings in Seattle.
San Francisco 49ers over/under trends:
Seattle Seahawks over/under trends:
Over
43.5 (-110)
Under
43.5 (-110)
Odds from BetOnline as of 12/14/2022
The 49ers have scored 33 and 35 points, respectively in their last two games played with Brock Purdy as the starter. Meanwhile, Christian McCaffrey and Jeff Wilson have led the Niners to the NFL’s 9th best rushing attack. On the other hand, the Seattle defense has allowed an average of 31 points per game in their last 3 games played.
Despite his struggles with turning the ball over, Geno Smith has produced points for Seattle. The Seahawks have scored 24 or more points in 8 out of their last 10 games played and Smith has thrown 8 TDs over his last three games played with Seattle averaging 28.3 points per game during that span. This one should breach the total.
Prediction: Over 43.5
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