Follow the match between the Seahawks and the 49ers this Saturday from 8 p.m. on RDS2.
For the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers, the National Football League playoffs will begin a week earlier.
The two best teams in the National Association West Division will face off Saturday night in a rare regular season game where the stakes are so high.
The winner, in fact, will earn first place in the overall standings of the National Association, with a bye for the first round and home field advantage before the Super Bowl.
“In football, of all sports, home field advantage is the most important because I think crowd noise really impacts the game in terms of pressure on the quarterback and things like that,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shahanan said.
“But the most important thing is just that there is one less game to play. I would really like to play at home. This is our goal. If that doesn’t work out, we’re also happy to play outside. »
This match between the Seahawks (13-3) and the 49ers (12-4) marks only the fourth time since the use of “seeds” in the NFL, in 1975, that two teams face each other during the last week of the season with, as a reward for the victorious club, the first place in the general classification of their association, according to Sportradar.
Facing a similar situation last year, Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold suffered defeat when the Minnesota Vikings lost to the Detroit Lions.
The only other games with similar stakes were in 1993, when the Dallas Cowboys beat the New York Giants en route to a second straight Super Bowl title, and in 1979, when the Cowboys defeated Washington.
In 2019, the 49ers and Seahawks faced off in similar circumstances.
The 49ers scored a first-place victory when linebacker Dre Greenlaw tackled Jacob Hollister at the one-yard line on fourth down and scored in the final seconds of the game.
A victory for the Seahawks would have given them second place and a direct bye to the second round.
“I think it’s one of the best plays ever made,” Shanahan said.
“Just seeing everyone running on the field after that, it was an intense, fun game. (…) This reminds us how quickly things can change. It all came down to the final seconds, and things started to go wrong for a moment, and then Greenlaw made one of the best plays I’ve ever seen. »
Both teams have undergone an almost complete overhaul since that showdown six years ago. Only seven players who participated in this match are currently in the active squads of both teams.
“That game really left a bitter taste in my mouth,” admits Seahawks tackle Jarran Reed, who participated in that duel.
“I remember that game like it was yesterday. We don’t forget these kinds of matches, it’s an important moment. We are not going to shy away. Everything is at stake now, everything is at stake and we know it. »
Productive ground attacks
Despite the presence of Christian McCaffrey, the 49ers’ ground attack struggled to get going for much of the season. The picture has changed radically in recent weeks.
After ranking last in the NFL in yards per carry (3.51) through the first 10 weeks, the 49ers managed to revive themselves down the stretch of the schedule.
Over their last three games, they have averaged 4.69 yards per carry and rank third with 161 yards per game over that span.
“I think it’s just the result of a collective effort. The guys are sticking to the plan and continuing to improve,” McCaffrey analyzed.
“There is not just one answer. These are the 11 guys who are committed to it. I think we’re seeing it and we’re getting there, and we just need to keep the momentum going.”
The Seahawks have recently experienced a similar turnaround.
After a thrilling 38-37 overtime win over the Los Angeles Rams, where they rushed for 171 yards, the Seahawks followed up with 163 rushing yards in their victory over the Carolina Panthers, led by Zach Charbonnet who rushed for 110 yards, a career-high in the season.
But it won’t be easy Saturday against the 49ers’ sixth-ranked run defense, which is giving up an average of 103 yards per game.
“We followed our process,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said. We truly believe in what we do. »
