NFC Championship preview: Seahawks vs. 49ers
This Sunday, there is more on the line than just being heralded as the champion of the NFC. This game holds NFC West bragging rights, and that is huge for these two rivals.
The San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks are carbon copies of each other. Both squads are hard-nose, no-excuses, get-down-to-business football teams. Both sides understand the run game is just as important as the pass game, which is easily seen by the use of their blue-chip running backs in Frank Gore for San Francisco and Marshawn Lynch for the ‘Hawks.
Both quarterbacks are world-class athletes, and no one can overlook the two defenses that go back and forth in being the league’s best week to week. Really, these teams could switch uniforms and really be in the same position. They are that good.
But they are not the same team, and the coaching staff for each team make it a point in making sure the mistakes the week before do not happen again. The most interesting thing about this is how different the coaching styles are.
Pete Carroll, the head coach for the Seahawks, is the most energetic coach in the NFL hands down. He is a scout team quarterback during OTAs and training camp, and he is regularly found running up and down the field like he is one of the defensive backs that make up his menacing “Legion of Doom” secondary. In a league where most of the head coaches would rather tell you what you are doing wrong, Carroll is a coach who would much rather tell you what you are good at. When CBS Sports asked if the veterans who came through the door liked that mentality and attitude, Seahawks wide receiver Sidney Rice simply responded with, “Like it? What player wouldn’t like it? What player likes being told all the time how terrible they are?” That’s what Carroll calls his “win forever” philosophy, his “always compete” mantra. If you are willing to compete, they’ll give you your shot, but you have to earn it; even if it is a little different.
On the other hand, the mantra for San Francisco head coach Jim Harbaugh is “Attack each day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.” He is a coach I’d like to call Bill Belichick-esque – and yes, I did just make that word up. Harbaugh is the stereotypical no-nonsense, buckle-up-your-chinstrap-and-hit-anyone-in-the-other-jersey kind of coach. In reality, he might be the scariest man in the NFL; and that includes people like James Harrison and Terrell Suggs. Sailors tell stories of his tirades directed at the referees who call anything against his squad. Some people may call him mean, rude or downright belligerent, but everyone can agree on one thing: He wins games. Period. Harbaugh is the only coach in NFL history to go to the NFC championship in his first three years. That’s mind boggling considering this league has housed coaches in the likes of Don Shula, Tom Landry, Bill Walsh and Chuck Knoll. He may go down as the coach to out Belichick. ESPN has said he very well may go down as one of, if not the greatest coach of his generation; and really, who can deny that? While you won’t see him smiling on the sideline very often, you will see him on the winning end of most of his games; and in this league, smiles don’t matter. Wins do.
Both coaches molded these teams to resemble their coaching styles, starting with hard-nose defenses that have taken up personalities of their own.
The Seattle secondary has been dubbed the best in the NFL, and the rest of the squad has made their claim to being the best big-play defense in the NFL. With a league-leading 80 interceptions since 2010, the Seahawks not only know how to get to the ball, but have players like Kam Chancellor lay a hit on a receiver that leaves them wanting an ice pack and a massage.
The San Francisco defense, on the other hand, won’t be seen very often in front of a camera, but instead on the opening clips to ESPN’s SportsCenter with massive hits being delivered by their three All-Pro linebackers in NaVarro Bowman, Aldon Smith and of course Patrick Willis. With the massive hits this defense delivers, it’s no wonder why they are known as a defense that is a league leader in fumbles and overall defensive play. Even their corners and safeties look like some outside linebackers for some NFL teams – see: Donte Whitner.
But you don’t need to leave it to the defense to make plays when the offenses of both squads are very capable of putting up huge numbers when needed, especially in San Francisco. The 49ers have been on a dominating nine-game win streak that includes Carolina, Arizona and the very Seahawks they are facing this weekend. Colin Kaepernick, the quarterback for the 49e
rs, led the league for rushing yards by a quarterback this season and went back to the Colin of last year in the second half of the season. It also doesn’t hurt that he has four phenomenal skill position players in Anquan Boldin, Michael Crabtree, Vernon Davis and Frank Gore. The 49ers can play offense just as well as their defense can play … well, defense … and that’s what has been keeping Seattle up at night this week; not their world-famous coffee.
But don’t count out the Seattle offense. While they have been struggling of late, they have shown the bigger the game, the bigger the score – see: week two vs. San Francisco, week seven vs. Arizona and of course week 13 vs. New Orleans. And with Russell Wilson, who is in my opinion the best young quarterback in the NFL today, leading their team, the sky is the only limit these soaring Seahawks. If the Seahawks can get Percy Harvin back, that will only help them and keep the 49ers on their toes.
I really feel this game will come down to one deciding factor: the Seattle home-field advantage.
The two worst games of Colin Kaepernick’s career have come while playing in Seattle. The Seattle fans have no love lost for the team hailing from the Bay. With the Seahawks selling out the game in less than five minutes, the 49ers can expect nothing less than jet engine-like sound when they visit the great Pacific Northwest; no, really. Seattle has registered 137.6 decibels at a game. Compare that to a jet engine’s 120 decibels.
All right, enough of this: Who do I think is going to win? Im going with the Seahawks. Why, you may ask? The Seahawks have a 16-1 record at home over the last two years, and that includes two wins against this 49ers squad. I don’t see that changing. This game will have a lot of penalties, some turnovers, big plays from Crabtree, none from Anquan Boldin and an interception returned for a touchdown by Richard Sherman and a turnover-less game from Russell Wilson. The Niners will hold Marshawn Lynch to 80 yards, but they won’t be able to contain Golden Tate, who will have a 100 yard game and a touchdown. The final: 24-17 Seahawks with the ‘Hawks representing the NFC in the Super Bowl.
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