(NFC no. 7) Seattle Seahawks at (NFC no. 2) San Francisco 49ers
The Seattle Seahawks have done it. The journey was certainly anything but easy, but they found a way to win in Week 18 and the Detroit Lions came through for them in Green Bay.
After all the drama in the 2022 offseason with Russell Wilson, the blockbuster trade, and all of it, the Seattle Seahawks are going to — for the moment — experience some football catharsis. They have made the playoffs and they have a top-five pick in April’s NFL Draft. It doesn’t get much better than that, frankly.
That’s the good news, and it’s plenty of it. The bad news? They have to travel to Santa Clara to take on one of the absolute hottest teams in the NFL right now: the San Francisco 49ers. If Kyle Shanahan isn’t the NFL coach of the year, the award is rigged.
The 49ers went into this year with a plan at the QB position, which was that Trey Lance would be their full-time starter. That caused Jimmy Garoppolo trade rumors to heat up to the point that everyone one in the 49ers organization including Garoppolo said their goodbyes publicly. Fortunately for the 49ers, Garoppolo came back on a reduced contract and wound up winning them a bunch of games early on this season.
Garoppolo had the Niners looking like a contender and then he got hurt. Brock Purdy, Mr. Irrelevant in this year’s NFL Draft, had to step in as the starter. He’s done more than a fine job. Purdy is out there slinging the rock, dealing the ball to the 49ers’ playmakers, and he’s done quite a bit without Deebo Samuel in the lineup as Samuel missed a handful of weeks from December to January.
Now, Samuel is back in the fold. The 49ers are clicking on both sides of the ball. Even with Geno Smith making the Pro Bowl and Seattle getting a huge boost offensively from the emergence of rookie running back Kenneth Walker, this game feels like it’s leaning toward Shanahan’s squad.
Can the Seahawks pull off an upset?
Prediction: 49ers win 31-23