49ers at Seahawks: Top Predictions, Odds, and Top Pick for Thursday Night Football
We have an exciting NFC West matchup for Thursday Night Football with the 49ers traveling to Seattle to take on the Seahawks. Both of these teams are coming off brutal home losses and will be looking to bounce back this week against a divisional opponent.
Today, we will preview the game and give you my top pick for this Thursday Night matchup. Let’s get into it!
Does San Fran Have a Super Bowl Hangover?
It has been anything but a successful season for the 49ers up to this point. The preseason Super Bowl contenders are now below .500 through their first games. Injuries have certainly been an issue for Kyle Shannahan’s team so far. Deebo Samuel has missed time, CB Charvarious Ward is hurt, and Safety Talanoa Hufanga is expected to miss a month. That is not even mentioning Christian McCaffrey, who has missed every game so far with Achilles Tendinitis.
The 49ers are 0-2 in division games after leading both the Rams and Cardinals by 10-plus points in the fourth quarter so far this season. Those two tough losses, coupled with the 49ers’ loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2 dropped them to an 0-3 record against NFC opponents for the first time since 2017.
Brock Purdy has been anything but perfect, but we have seen him work through rough patches before in his young career. With Deebo back and the emergence of Juan Jennings along with Brandon Aiyuk, I expect to see the offense get rolling again.
Seahawks Try to Bounce Back After Tough Loss
Seattle is coming off of a tough loss against the New York Giants in their home stadium. After starting the season 3-0, the Seahawks looked to be rolling under their new head coach Mike McDonald. However, they have now suffered back-to-back losses and have a tough stretch of games ahead of them.
Much like the 49ers, the Seahawks are banged up on the defensive side of the ball. Byron Murphy II and Tariq Woolen are some big names missing from what is supposed to be a solid defensive group in Seattle.
Aside from their defensive injuries, this Seattle team has been putting up some points this season. They have put up 20+ points in each of their games and have a talented group of skill players surrounding QB Geno Smith. With the injuries to the defenses in this game, I am expecting a pretty high-scoring game.
Both QBs will be looking to take advantage of some beat-up defenses and get their teams back on track. Another point to watch is that San Francisco swept Seattle last season, so this group will be looking for some revenge this year.
Top Pick
As you can tell from all the injuries I have mentioned on the defensive side of the ball, I am figuring this game may be pretty high scoring. Seattle has amassed 20+ points in each of their games this season and the 49ers have averaged 25.2 PPG.
With the Over/Under sitting at 49, I think that is the play this week. The 49ers had 3 turnovers last week and still managed to put up 23 in their heartbreaking loss to the Cardinals. Seattle's offense sputtered until the end of the game and will be looking to make things right this week. Expect DK Metcalf to get involved early and try to extend the field on the Niners' defense which is missing their star CB and Safety.
This game holds a lot of significance for both of these teams who have playoff ambitions. An 0-4 start against NFC opponents would really hurt the returning NFC Champions' chances at another playoff run. The Seattle crowd will be loud and ready to go, so we should be in store for a fun game.
Top Pick: Over 49 Points
