Despite having clinched the NFC West, Seattle (11-4 SU, 8-7 ATS) isn’t expected to rest many regulars when it closes the season against San Francisco (6-9, 6-9). The Seahawks, who are still playing for the top seed in the NFC, have won 12 of their last 14 games against the 49ers.
- Date/Time: January 3, 4:25 p.m.
- Stadium: State Farm Stadium
- TV Coverage: Fox
- Sportsbook Odds: Seahawks -6.5 | O/U 47.5 (Line History)
- Seahawks vs 49ers Matchup Report
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
If you think Seattle will win the game, you shouldn’t mind laying the points. Eight of the Seahawks’ 11 wins this season have come by at least a touchdown, while the 49ers’ last seven losses have all been by at least seven points.
Seattle News & Notes
It’s unlikely that Seattle can leapfrog Green Bay and New Orleans for the No. 1 seed in the NFC, but the Seahawks are going to give it their best shot anyway. Coach Pete Carroll told reporters that “we’re going for it,” a mentality he’s displayed in previous seasons when the Seahawks had already locked up their playoff positioning.
“I don’t want to break that mentality at all,” Carroll told the Seattle Times. “We want to stay right with it and keep pushing and trying to get better.”
Carroll’s biggest focus might be on kick-starting an offense that has sputtered in its last seven games. Seattle has scored 23 points or less in five of those outings, and Russell Wilson has not thrown for more than 263 yards in a game since early November.
The Seahawks have still managed to win five of their last six because of the dramatic improvement by their defense, which hasn’t allowed more than 17 points in five straight games.
There’s been an average of just 37.7 points scored in Seattle’s last seven games, with the Seahawks going 7-0 to the UNDER during that stretch.
San Francisco News & Notes
A venue change hasn’t ended San Francisco’s struggles as the home team. The 49ers are 0-2 SU and ATS in their two games at the Cardinals’ home stadium in Glendale, where they’ll play again this week due to a ban of contact sports in Santa Clara.
San Fran is now 1-6 SU and ATS in its last seven games at home, 2-7-1 ATS in its last 10 division home games and 3-17 ATS in its last 20 home games following consecutive road games.
Ironically, San Francisco won in Arizona last week as the road team, upsetting the Cardinals 20-12 as a 6-point underdog. Third-string quarterback C.J. Beathard led the way with three touchdown passes and undrafted running back Jeff Wilson gained 204 total yards from scrimmage, the most by a 49ers running back in a decade. Wilson will likely carry the mail again this week for San Francisco with Raheem Mostert on injured reserve.
Tight end George Kittle wasted little time making his presence felt last week in his first game in nearly two months, leading the team with 92 receiving yards on four catches. No other 49ers player had more than 28 yards through the air, and no other receiver had more than one catch.
Betting Pick: Seahawks -5.5
San Francisco deserves a ton of credit for still playing hard at the end of such a difficult season, but it’s hard to see the Niners putting up many points against this improved Seattle defense. The Seahawks roll into the postseason with their sixth win in seven games.
- The total has gone UNDER in Seattle’s last 7 games.
- Seattle is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games on the road.
- San Francisco is 5-14 ATS in its last 19 games vs Seattle.
