The Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers had one of the best, most intense rivalries in recent years. Unfortunately for football fans, both teams have been underwhelming this season, so the stakes won’t be quite as high as they have been in the past when they meet up at CenturyLink Field this Sunday.
49ers vs. Seahawks 2015 live stream: Start time, TV schedule and how to watch online
This NFC West rivalry has lost some of its luster in 2015.
Seattle’s Super Bowl hangover has continued well into the 2015 season. The Seahawks dropped to 4-5 after losing to the Arizona Cardinals at home last week. After making two straight Super Bowl appearances, Seattle is now three games behind Arizona in the NFC West and will need to make a strong second half charge to get into the Wild Card picture. Football Outsiders’ playoff odds have the Seahawks at just 9.9 percent.
A lot of Seattle’s struggles come down to the offense. The Seahawks are averaging just 181.6 passing yards per game, 27th in the league. They are tied for 20th in first downs per game and 21st in third down conversion rate. That inability to stay on the field and generate points has led to the defense getting tired late in games, which has been a contributing factor in all of their fourth quarter collapses.
If there’s one encouraging sign for Seattle, it’s that the team is getting the 49ers at home this week. These teams last met in Week 7 when Seattle cruised to a comfortable 20-3 win in Santa Clara. This is the Seahawks’ best chance to get back to .500 before a rough two-game stretch against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings.
The 49ers’ season has gone about as expected after so many offseason departures. They’re coming off a bye week after benching Colin Kaepernick for Blaine Gabbert, which sounds like the ultimate humiliation for Kaepernick. Kaepernick’s miserable season was finished for good when the 49ers put him on injured reserve, almost certainly ending his 49ers tenure.
To Gabbert’s credit, he played competent football in Week 9 and the 49ers pulled out an upset win over the Atlanta Falcons to improve to 3-6 on the year. Gabbert completed 15 of 25 passes for 185 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions against Atlanta. The numbers don’t jump off the page, but his 7.4 yards per attempt was yearly 2 yards better than his career average. The 49ers are also hoping to get Anquan Boldin back after a hamstring injury kept him out of two games.
The running game remains San Francisco’s biggest concern. Carlos Hyde is still sidelined with a stress fracture in his foot and won’t return this week. That leaves the backfield with a jumbled committee of anonymous types like Shaun Draughn, Kendall Gaskins and Travaris Cadet. Draughn managed 96 total yards in Week 9, but he’ll be hard-pressed to match that number against the Seahawks defense, which held Chris Johnson to 2.3 yards per carry.
The defense was hardest hit by the offseason exodus out of San Francisco. Once one of the league’s best, the defense now ranks 20th in rushing yards and 29th in passing yards allowed per game. If there was ever a time for the Seahawks’ offense to find a pulse, it’s this week. Seattle can’t afford another home loss with the season slipping through its fingers.
How to watch
When: 4:25 p.m. ET
Where: CenturyLink Field, Seattle
TV: FOX
Announcers: Chris Myers, Ronde Barber, Jennifer Hale
Online: NFL Game Pass
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