Seattle Seahawks (+1)* at San Francisco 49ers
A few short weeks ago, the 49ers were ‘playing for their lives’ when they went down to New Orleans. On multiple occasions, they were dead. Since the moment that San Francisco completed their improbable comeback win against the Saints, they have run off three-straight victories and enter Thanksgiving night’s divisional matchup tied with their opponent two games out of the NFC West lead.
The problem is, San Francisco doesn’t deserve to be there.
Not only should the 49ers have lost, at least, one of their last three games, they could have conceivably dropped all three. They trailed late in the fourth quarter against the Saints and Redskins, and were largely aided by a whopping five interceptions thrown by Giants quarterback Eli Manning in their Week 11 matchup. Keep in mind that the 49ers won these three games by an average of just over four points, while their opponents’ combined records are a pathetic 9-23.
Meanwhile, Seattle knocked off the current top seed in the NFC with a home win against the Cardinals in Week 12. Part of the belief in the Seahawks stems from a scheduling oddity that placed five of the team’s six division games at the very end of the year. By now, the Seahawks have had time to establish their identity – once again, led by a stellar defense – and can make a push for the NFC West title on their own accord.
Seattle wins by a touchdown and beats the spread.
