The week seven Thursday Night Football matchup features a couple of NFC West rivals. The Seattle Seahawks (2-4) will take on the San Francisco 49ers (2-4) as both teams look to stay within reach of the first place Arizona Cardinals.
This is a matchup between two teams that had very different expectations this year and one has overachieved somewhat while the other has underachieved in a major way through six games.
Let's start with the underachieving Seahawks who have lost two straight games and if it weren't for a missed call against the Detroit Lions a few weeks ago they would be 1-5. The Seahawks had big fourth quarter leads in each of their past two games but blew them both thanks in part to a defense that hasn't been as good as in past years and also because of the offenses inability to move the ball.
When Kam Chancellor came back things looked great for the Seahawks but in the past couple of weeks they have completely melted down and Richard Sherman is one of the main culprits. Sherman has had a bad year and Pro Football Focus ranks him as the 82nd best cornerback in football so far this year. The Seahawks have allowed 55 points in the fourth quarter so far this season which is the fourth most in the league.
On offense they had been without Marshawn Lynch for two and a half games but he came back last week and rushed for 54 yards on 17 carries. Lynch hasn't been his dominant self so far this season and Russell Wilson has been underwhelming. Wilson has tried to get tight end Jimmy Graham the ball more in the past couple of weeks and it has worked well as Graham is really starting to come on of late.
Of note in this game for the Seahawks is that they hope to have their best linebacker, Bobby Wagner, back for this game after he missed last weeks game with a pectoral injury.
The 49ers lost so many players this season, especially on defense, and their head coach Jim Harbaugh that there were some people who thought they might be the worst team in the league. They instead are 2-4 and have a chance to move ahead of the defendng NFC champions in the standings.
The 49ers opened with a win over the Minnesota Vikings, then lost four straight and are now coming off a win over the Baltimore Ravens. Colin Kaepernick did not get off to a very good start to this season but he has really settled in and played very well the past two weeks. He and Anquan Boldin have had a great connection as Boldin has caught 13 passes for 209 yards in the last two games.
Carlos Hyde has been very good in his first season as the full time running back as he is averaging over four yards per carry and has three rushing touchdowns despite being a little bit dinged up.
One of the defensive players who is still on the team from the last few years is NaVorro Bowman. Bowman looks a step slower after he suffered that gruesome knee injury in the NFC Championship game a couple of years ago but he still leads the team with 59 tackles (2 for loss) and he has also added a sack. Aaron Lynch is another guy to watch on defense as he has three sacks this season and he is becoming one of the best edge rushers in the NFL.
Seattle has taken five of the last six meetings with the 49ers including the playoffs but this year is a little different. The Seahawks come in reeling after two straight losses, their defense has been suspect and they have yet to win on the road this season. San Francisco comes in feeling good about themselves and both of their wins have come at home.
This is a very big game in the NFC West and there is a lot of pressure on the Seahawks as they can't afford to fall too far behind if they expect to make it back to the playoffs again this season.
The game kicks off at 8:25 P.M. Eastern Time. To watch the live broadcast go here. To listen to the Seahawks radio broadcast go here and for the 49ers radio broadcast go here.
