Seattle Seahawks @  San Francisco 49ers Preview

What’s On The Line:

Both teams are coming off of impressive wins and both are looking to stake a claim in an open division. The Seahawks are fresh off of a dominant shutout performance over the St. Louis Rams while the 49ers are off of a road win against last year’s West winner, Arizona.

Now the two teams will square off to establish themselves as the early frontrunner in the West.

Who Has The Edge:

Neither team was expected to be a contender for the Super Bowl but the Seahawks could emerge as a challenger with a second consecutive impressive win. The 49ers are still a little weak on offense, mainly due to their quarterback Shaun Hill, but week one was a solid game for the new full time starter and a win on Sunday would help his case.

Expect a defensive battle as the 49ers bread and butter is their defense, while the Seahawks unit has vastly improved this year.

The breaking point will be the 49ers running game against the Seahawks run defense. Seattle yielded just 67 yards on 16 carries to Steven Jackson in Week 1, which makes a lot of football odds makers wonder how Frank Gore will find space against them. If the 49ers can’t run the ball, I’m not sure the passing attack will be able to get them back into the game.

The Seahawks have Matt Hasselbeck and a number of good receivers. T.J. Houshmanzadeh looks very comfortable with his new team while carry overs John Carlson and Nate Burleson looked particularly strong in Week 1.

The 49ers offense struggled against Arizona’s mediocre defense, which is a concern. They had just four yards in the entire third quarter, which makes you wonder what half time adjustments were even made? The Seahawks have the better quarterback and the better defense. Although they aren’t at home, look for the first two factors to carry them to the win.

NFL Odds Makers:

Opening Line: Seahawks -1

Current Line: 49ers -1

Stats

SEA totaled 446 yards of offense in Week 1
SEA is 5-2 straight up and against the spread in last seven trips to San Francisco
SF is 1-7 in last eight games where the line is from +3 to -3
SF is 0-7 in a home game where the total is between 38.5 and 42 points
Seattle is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against San Francisco
Seattle is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
Seattle is 9-3 SU in its last 12 games when playing San Francisco

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