NFL Thanksgiving Betting – 49ers Aim to Carve-up Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers (-1, 40 o/u)

Going into this NFL season, there was little doubt the Seattle Seahawks (7-4, 2-3 away) and San Francisco 49ers (7-4, 3-2 home) would be vying for the playoffs; however, it was assumed they would be competing for the NFC West division title. Mediocrity, combined with the rise of the Arizona Cardinals, has relegated them to the Wild Card chase for the time being. And now the loser of tomorrow’s NFC Championship rematch stands a good chance of missing out on postseason play.

As if this game didn’t have enough hype, the NFL schedule-makers did everyone a favor by pitting these two bitter rivals against each other on Thanksgiving.

Said Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson, “A Thanksgiving game where everybody will be watching. Do you hype that up? Do you downgrade it? I don’t know. It’s going to kind of elevate the game in general, and it’s the 49ers. It’s one of those things you’re gonna get pumped up for.”

The Seahawks come into this game feeling like they have turned a corner. They have won four of their last five and handed the NFL-leading Arizona Cardinals just their second loss of the season last weekend, cruising to a 19-3 victory and covering as 6.5-point home favorites.

Said safety Earl Thomas, “Trust. That’s what we’ve been missing, to be totally honest. I think we haven’t been trusting each other. But [on Sunday], it was just pureness. Anytime we can keep eliminating that ego and keep realizing the real situation is bigger than one person.”

No one will be surprised if both teams struggle to move the ball tomorrow night. Seattle boasts the top total defense in the league, giving up only 296.8 yards per game. Meanwhile, the Niners are second, allowing just 300. Seattle also has the best rushing attack in the league, though, and will fight tooth-and-nail for the line of scrimmage.

Last weekend, the 49ers beat a struggling Washington team, 17-13, for their third straight win. The three-game win streak was all but necessary for the Niners, who found themselves at .500 through nine weeks.

Said 49ers safety Antoine Bethea, “We feel like we are in the playoffs. Win at all costs.”

Naturally the team’s offensive success rests on the shoulders of quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The fourth-year QB ended last season with an interception in the NFC Championship game.

When asked about that play, Kaepernick responded, “It’s in the past.”

Had this game – like Kaep’s costly interception – taken place a year ago, the consensus would have been to take the under. This year, both teams have great total defenses, but are not as statistically impressive in terms of scoring defense. (Seattle is seventh in the league, giving up 19.8 points per game, while San Francisco is tenth at 20.5.) Add in the fact that some injured defenders will have less time to heal on a short week (such as CB Tramaine Brock and DE Justin Smith for the Niners, and CBs Jeremy Lane and Marcus Burley for the Hawks) and the over (40) is the better play.

(Photo credit: Philip Robertson (flickr) “Loudest crowd roar at a sports stadium Seahawks-14” [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode]. Photo has been cropped.)