The San Francisco 49ers travel up the coast to take on the Seattle Seahawks in a Christmas Eve game that could help to further clarify the playoff picture. The Seahawks have been hot lately, bringing a three-game winning streak into the game.
The 49ers are battling with the Saints for the number 2 seed in the NFC and the coveted first round bye, with both teams sitting at 11-3. The 49ers finish the season with the Seahawks and Rams, while the Saints have the Atlanta Falcons and the Carolina Panthers.
At 7-7, the Seahaws have an outside shot at a playoff run, but with two 9-5 teams currently sitting in the Wild Card slots (the Lions and Falcons), they would need a LOT of help to get there.
The 49ers have ridden their stellar defense and strong running game to their 11-3 record, and are the only one of the top NFC contenders to be performing that well on defense. The 49ers are tops in the league in scoring defense, and have the best run-stopping defense in the league.
Actually, they are having an historic season stopping the run. They have set an NFL record by not allowing a rushing TD through 14 games this season. Going back to 1932, the fewest TDs allowed in a season is two, a record shared by the 1934 Detroit Lions, 1968 Dallas Cowboys, and 1971 Minnesota Vikings. That’s some pretty elite company.
“It’s a big goal to stop the run. You don’t set up on your goal board at the beginning of the year to not allow a rushing touchdown for the first 14 games of the season. You want to be good against the run, you want to stop the run,” coach Jim Harbaugh said. “Our team has been doing that.”
This week, they face the Seahawks and running back Marshawn Lynch. Lynch has 1,011 yards already this season. The Seahawks offense has been playing well of late – after scoring 30 points only once in their first 11 games, they have exceeded 30 points in their last three games, winning all three by a combined score of 99-41.
“Marshawn is running that ball — like I told guys, he’s running like he just got out of jail or something,” 49ers cornerback Carlos Rogers said. “He’s running that ball hard.”
The Seahawks have the 23rd ranked passing offense in the league, so if the 49ers can shut down the run and make them one dimensional, they should be able to handle this game and keep on track for that number two seed.
Seattle has also played solid defense all year, ranking 6th in points allowed, so this figures to be another low scoring, defensive battle. That’s exactly the type of game San Francisco likes to play.
