The lone matchup between teams coming from the same division will take place in Seattle this Saturday as the 49ers battle the Seahawks in one of the most hostile environments throughout the NFL.
These two teams met in the final week of the regular season when Seattle took down San Francisco en route to clinching the no. 1 overall seed in the NFC. After a week off, Seattle looks to fend off a hungry 49ers team that just flew across the country and beat the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles in Philadelphia.
In addition to their Week 18 matchup, Seattle and San Francisco also met in Week 1 where the 49ers actually came into Seattle and started off their season 1-0. Both matchups were very low-scoring as both teams failed to score 20 points respectively in both games.
San Francisco comes into this matchup extremely injured. They just lost George Kittle to an achilles tear last week in Philadelphia, and that is without mentioning the absences of Fred Warner, Nick Bosa, and others.
Despite the injuries, the Niners have continued to prevail and fend off the doubters throughout their adventurous season. San Fran comes into this matchup winners of seven of their last eight games with their sole loss coming to Seattle, leaving a bitter taste in their mouths.
On the other hand, Seattle enters the divisional round of the playoffs after an historic regular season. They finished the campaign with a 14-3 record and the three losses each came by just one score each. The Seahawks have not dropped a game since mid-November.
The connection between Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba was absolutely magical to watch this past season. JSN lead the league in receiving yards with nearly 1,800. Sam Darnold impressed in his first year in the Pacific Northwest, despite his 14 interceptions.
Seattle's defense is not one to be reckoned with coming off a great season. It's very tough to score on this defense and the stats prove it. Seattle allowed just around 17 points per game to opposing offenses, ranking no. 1 in the NFL.
In the two matchups with San Francisco, the Seattle defense let up just 20 combined points. I am expecting another defensive bloodbath between these two NFC West foes with a trip to the NFC Championship on the line this Saturday.
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