Thanks to a 21-7 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Monday Night Football, the Seattle Seahawks have a stranglehold on the NFC wild-card race and enter their Week 15 matchup with the San Francisco 49ers sitting pretty at 8-5. Sportsbooks opened the Seahawks as 5.5-point road favorites with a total of 44.
- The Seahawks are 13-2 ATS in their last 15 games vs the 49ers.
- The total has gone UNDER in five of the 49ers’ last seven games (avg. combined score: 42.57).
- The Seahawks are 10-0 SU in their last 10 games vs the 49ers (avg. winning margin: 12.7).
Seattle has flat-out owned San Francisco over the years
Seattle’s triumph over the Vikings was its fourth in a row, with one of the victories coming in a dominant 43-16 showing against the 49ers only two weeks ago. The Seahawks’ transition to a run-first team has been something to behold, as Pete Carroll’s club leads the league on the ground with a fantastic 153.8 yards per game. Defensively, they’ve only allowed 20.5 points per game – a surprising stat considering the losses they’ve had on that side of the ball over the past year.
The Seahawks’ dominance over the 49ers both at the betting window and on the field is well known. Seattle has won 10 straight over San Fran with an average winning margin of a ridiculous 12.7 points. The Seahawks have covered in 13 of their previous 15 meetings with the Niners and are a scorching 6-1-1 ATS in their past eight contests.
Mullens is looking to hold his own against the Seahawks
San Francisco is coming off its best showing of the campaign, a 20-14 win over the Denver Broncos in which Nick Mullens stepped up to the plate. The rookie signal-caller completed 20 of 33 passes for 332 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. The 49ers are allowing 107.8 rushing yards and 235.2 passing yards per game in 2018, so the defense has fared better than most people expected.
When it comes to the total, betting trends are pointing to an UNDER in this one. The UNDER is 5-2 in the 49ers’ past seven contests with an average combined score of 42.6 points. The UNDER is also 8-2 in Seattle’s last 10 road tilts vs divisional opponents.
My pick: take the Seahawks
The 49ers will be a trendy pick this weekend due to their upset over the Broncos, but I’m not expecting them to put forth the same type of performance against the streaking Seahawks. Seattle’s past success against the 49ers in this series is too glaring to ignore, and while backing road favorites is traditionally not a recommended strategy in the NFL, I’m making an exception here.
I don’t think it’s going to be the same type of blowout we saw when these teams met a few weeks ago, but I think the Seahawks will still win this one comfortably and book their ticket to the playoffs in the process.
