We have a huge game in the NFC West on Thursday night, as the surprising 2-3 49ers travel to Seattle to take on the 3-2 Seahawks. Both teams are off devastating upset losses in Week 5, as you’re aware if you are still alive in a Survivor League. San Francisco choked away another big lead in the second half to lose as a touchdown favorite in Arizona, while the Seahawks fell flat at home against the Giants, who were playing without some key offensive players.
So which team is in the better spot to bounce back on TNF? I’m going with the team that’s more desperate.
San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks
SF 49ers 1H -2.5 (-120)
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SF 49ers Halftime/Fulltime (+115)
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One thing that the 49ers haven’t struggled with so far this season is getting off to strong starts. They’ve led at halftime in four of their five games (trailed the 5-0 Vikings), with an average lead of 12 points heading into the locker room. The issues have come in the second half for the Niners. While they were able to hold on against poor teams like the Patriots and Jets and close out the win, the Rams and Cardinals put up huge comebacks to steal two games. That’s a big reason why this dinged up 49ers team remains so highly power rated, as it’s a couple of plays away from being 4-1, despite playing without some of their best players.
San Francisco still isn’t close to full strength, but the offense should be just about as healthy as it has been all season, and ready to put up some points on this Seattle defense. The Seahawks haven’t done much other than beat up on bad teams to start the season. They needed a big second half comeback to beat the Broncos as home in the opener, and have wins over the Patriots and Dolphins. In a comparable matchup to this one, the Lions stomped the Seahawks in Detroit.
Seattle may have just shown us its true colors against the Giants, struggling for the entirety of that game at home. The Seahawks have only led twice at halftime this season, that being against New England and Miami, which was without Tua Tagovailoa. Trusting a road favorite in a divisional game on a short week can be a bit dicy, but I actually really think this helps the 49ers. They are extremely familiar with Seattle, so its a good opponent to play on the short week, as the matchup has gone well for them in the past. The Seahawks were the “sharp” play as the short home dog when these teams met in Seattle last season, and the Niners dominated — 31-13 after leading by 21 at halftime.
I expect a healthier and far more desperate 49ers team to do what they’ve done all season and dominate the first half of this game against a team they are better than. But this time around, I also expect them to close out a must-win game, which has me adding the double-result play.
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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
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