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 If the San Francisco 49ers are going to make it back to the Super
Bowl for the second straight season, they must do something they
haven't done in more than two calendar years: win in the deafening
noise at CenturyLink Field.
Since the start of 2012, coach Jim Harbaugh's team has won in tough
road environments like Green Bay, New Orleans, New England and last
year's conference title game in Atlanta. But they have yet to win a
game in their No. 1 rival's home stadium since Colin Kaepernick took
over as starting quarterback midway through last season. In his two
starts in Seattle, the 49ers have been outscored 71-16 and
Kaepernick has thrown just one touchdown pass to four interceptions
against the Seahawks' heavyweight defense.
San Francisco will be playing its fourth straight road game after
traveling to Arizona in Week 17, then Green Bay and Carolina in the
first two rounds of the playoffs. To stay in rhythm with their
travel schedule, the team will head to Seattle Friday before the
game instead of Saturday as they normally would when traveling
within the Pacific Time Zone. Sunday's game will the third NFC
Championship Game in as many years for the 49ers, making Harbaugh
the first coach since the 1970 merger to get to the championship
round in his first three seasons in the NFL.
"I block and tackle nobody," Harbaugh said this week. "And our
players have done a phenomenal job, our coaches have done a great
job and it's been a team effort where everybody does a little and it
adds up to a lot. But it's a great zip code to live in, what our
team has accomplished."
Their most recent blundering defeat at the Seahawks' home field came
Sept. 15, when the home team outlasted the 49ers 29-3 in a
penalty-ridden game that was close for three quarters before Seattle
avalanched them with 17 points in the fourth. The next week the
49ers would fall at home to the Colts, giving them their first
losing streak since Harbaugh took over in 2011.
The 49ers netted just 107 passing yards while incurring 12 flags for
121 yards leading to four Seahawks' first downs. But that was
without wide receiver Michael Crabtree, who has since helped turn
the passing game around. Following his 11-week absence while
recovering from a torn right Achilles tendon suffered in May,
Kaepernick's thrown nine touchdowns to two interceptions with a 95.5
passer rating. In the games prior to Crabtree's return, Kaepernick
threw 14 scores to seven picks with an 86.6 rating.
"Crabtree is a weapon for our offense," wide receiver Anquan Boldin
said. "He opens things up for so many guys. Myself, (tight end)
Vernon (Davis), (wide receiver Quinton) Patton, even the running
game. You have a guy like Crab out there, the defense has to spread
out. We were able to hit some big runs in there also."
With Boldin and Crabtree playing at a high level, San Francisco
might have its best receiving duo since Terrell Owens and Jerry Rice
caught passes from Jeff Garcia in 2000. And the only time the 49ers
have played the Seahawks with both receivers on the field combating
that talented secondary, they churned out a 19-17 win in Week 14 at
Candlestick Park.
In that game, also filled with penalties, Kaepernick fared much
better. He completed 15 of 29 passes for 175 yards with one
touchdown and interception. It was Crabtree's second game back and
the quarterback completed just four of eight targets to the talented
wideout. Boldin finished that game with six receptions for 93 yards,
including a key 27-yard juggling grab over cornerback Richard
Sherman that set up Davis' key touchdown before the end of the first
half.
The biggest play in the game came in the fourth quarter down 17-16
when running back Frank Gore rumbled 51 yards from San Francisco's
31 to Seattle's 18 to set up the game-winning field goal.
"I think it was a statement game to the world just to let you guys
know this is still our division. And until a team takes that from us
we will continue to rep this division the right way," linebacker
NaVorro Bowman said following the game.
At that point, the 49ers were 9-4 while the streaking Seahawks
suffered just their second defeat of the season and were 11-2. The
defense held Russell Wilson and Co. to just 83 second-half yards.
Kicker Phil Dawson's four field goals ended up being the difference.
That day, he set the team record for consecutive kicks made when he
nailed four (23, 48, 52 and 22 yards) giving him 20 in a row. He
snapped his steak at 27 when he hooked a 24-yard field goal just
prior to the half during Week 17's 23-20 win over Arizona. He has
since made all six of his attempts in the playoffs, including a
game-winning 34-yarder as time expired in the wild-card round in icy
Green Bay.
With two top-tier defenses slugging it out, deciding which NFC goes
to the Super Bowl could come down to field goals. Dawson's looking
forward to the opportunity after being on a playoff team just once
during his 14-year career with the Cleveland Browns.
"This is fun," said Dawson. "I've watched way too much playoff
football. We could go anywhere and I'd be excited to play. We've got
guys that just embrace any challenge we have and there's not much
talk about the road stuff."
The 49ers will head to Seattle as a much different team. Week 2's
defeat came during their first road game of the season and was the
first of four losses to playoff teams. Now San Francisco streaks to
Seattle having won eight straight with their last loss coming Nov.
17 against the New Orleans Saints, the same team that fell to the
Seahawks in the divisional round of the playoffs.
But despite the team's recent struggles in their building, the 49ers
and their head coach feel confident about their ability to make it
back to the Super Bowl after coming up five yards short from the
franchise's sixth championship last February.
"Our preparation is what we'll lean on for every game that we play,"
said Harbaugh. "And having a great day at practice today. Meetings
have been outstanding. We're going to try to make those the best of
the season. Make our practice the best of the year. Make our drills
the best drills we have had all season. That's where we get
confidence from."
SERIES HISTORY: 31st meeting, first in the playoffs. The series is
tied at 15. Seattle has won the last two at CenturyLink Field, but
the 49ers have won five of the last seven overall.
NOTES, QUOTES
—The 49ers went 0-4 against teams that went on to make the playoffs
when wide receiver Michael Crabtree was out of the lineup, averaging
just 201 yards of offense. Since he's returned, they have averaged
355 yards and have gone 7-0. His best performance of the season came
against the Packers when he netted eight receptions for 125 yards in
the first round of the postseason.
"That was the vision going in, him on one side, me on the other
(tight end) Vernon (Davis) working the middle of the field," said
wide receiver Anquan Boldin. "It's tough on defenses when you have
two guys outside capable of having big games, and then you have
Vernon inside matched up with linebackers. So, it gives defenses
fits."
Going against the league's No. 1 passing attack, San Francisco will
need all hands on deck to try to get chunk yardage down the field.
In Week 2's loss, receiver Kyle Williams (since released and signed
by Kansas City) finished leading the team with four receptions for
39 yards. In December's win, Boldin and Crabtree combined for 133
receiving yards.
—San Francisco's defense might be playing its best ball of the
season in these playoffs. In Sunday's win in Carolina, they allowed
just 72 yards of offense prior to the Panthers' meaningless 59-yard
drive when time expired. They shut out the home team in the second
half of that game, just as they did in Dec. 8's win over the
Seahawks and last year's NFC Championship Game in Atlanta.
"I think what we experienced last year, getting to a Super Bowl and
understanding what it took to get there to beat the Falcons, it took
everything we had," linebacker Patrick Willis said. "And I think we
understand that this game, especially playing against a rival, a
team in our division who we play twice a year, we understand what
kind of football team they are. And we just know what it's going to
take to get it done."
Willis and fellow All-Pro NaVorro Bowman both had a team-high 11
tackles in the 23-10 win over the Panthers in the divisional round.
Their days were highlighted by Bowman's key third-quarter sack and
Willis' interception of quarterback Cam Newton on his team's first
possession.
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"As the game goes on, we wake up as a defense," Bowman said.
"We play even harder, we get stronger and I think we started
understanding what they were doing later on in the game, playing
to it and making plays."
—While the media is very interested in the renewal of the
rivalry between 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh and Seahawks coach Pete
Carroll, Harbaugh insists it is a thing of the past. He
discredited any accounts of animosity between the two successful
coaches that brought their success from college to the NFL.
"Animosity, no, erroneous, erroneous. It's football. It's
competition. It's winning," Harbaugh said Wednesday.
The "rivalry" dates back to their time as head coaches of USC
and Stanford, when Harbaugh beat Carroll's Trojans in 2009 on
the road 55-21 and attempted a late (and successful) two-point
conversion despite being up by a comfortable margin. As the two
went to midfield to shake hands following the game, Carroll
reportedly asked Harbaugh "What's your deal?" and it generated
Internet and media fodder for years to come.
Now with a Super Bowl trip on the line, Harbaugh and his players
won't let their rivalry with the Seahawks get in the way of
their ultimate goal.
"There's no question there's a lot of hostility between us, but
at the end of the day they're another football team. So, there's
always going to be dislikes," said Willis. "They're an opponent
of ours and we want to win. If we weren't in this race right now
there'd be no doubt that if they were playing against someone
else, I would wish them well because it's in our division. But
it's us playing, so there's not going to be any like at all
there."
Boldin, new to this rivalry but a veteran of the famed Ravens
and Steelers battles, promises not to let emotion get the best
of him on the field Sunday.
"Just playing football. You just don't get caught up into that
stuff. You play the way that you normally play and you let them
be themselves," he said.
"It'll always be that way when you have two good teams in the
same division. You play each other a couple times a year and if
you're good enough, possibly three times a year. It was the same
way when I was in Baltimore playing against Pittsburgh. You
respect each other as foes, but there is really a dislike."
BY THE NUMBERS: 7 — Postseason touchdown receptions by TE Vernon
Davis, tying Dave Casper for the most in NFL history.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "There is a subset of questions other than the
question, 'Will Carlos start if he's ready to play?' In terms of
do you come back at 100 percent, 90 percent, 95 percent, that'll
all be determined out on the practice field. Those subset of
questions will be answered out there." — Coach Jim Harbaugh on
whether CB Carlos Rogers will be able to play against the
Seahawks.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
INJURY IMPACT
—CB Carlos Rogers resumed practicing Wednesday for the first
time in over two weeks after sustaining a right hamstring
staring in the Week 17 win over the Arizona Cardinals. He hopes
to play Sunday, but will have to re-earn his starting job after
the defense has played so well in its first two playoff games.
—CB Perrish Cox has gotten time as the team's nickel corner
with Carlos Rogers shelved. Rogers usually starts opposite
Tramaine Brock in base situations and moves to the slot in
three-wide receiver situations.
"We'll practice and the players that we feel give us the best
opportunity in certain situations, nickel, dime, base, we'll
play in there," said coach JJim Harbaugh.
—FB Will Tukuafu also practiced in a limited capacity Wednesday
after suffering a left knee injury after just three snaps in the
23-10 win over Carolina Sunday. "I'm preparing to play. I'm
here, you know what I mean? So if I wasn't going to play, I
wouldn't be here," Tukuafu said, declining to offer specifics of
his injury, including the results of his MRI from Monday.
Tukuafu, a 290-pound converted defensive lineman, made his first
career reception in the right flat during the first quarter
Sunday, but had his left leg rolled up on by Captain Munnerlyn.
He did not return to the game. His status is day-to-day.
GAME PLAN
To open the running lanes for Frank Gore and the running game,
the 49ers will hope having WRs Anquan Boldin and Michael
Crabtree on the outside can take the Seahawks out of their
single-high safety look and move safety Cam Chancellor out of
the box. San Francisco started the Carolina game pass heavy in
the first half before throwing just four times in the second.
Gore finished with 84 yards rushing after netting just 17 in the
first quarter against Carolina's second-rated defense.
Opening those lanes could also include using Vernon Davis on
explosive plays downfield. Davis led NFL tight ends with six
touchdowns of 20 yards or more according to Pro Football Focus.
Defensively, the 49ers are the least blitzing team in the NFL,
sending extra pressure just over 16.2 percent of the time while
the league average is 34.1 percent. But in their two games
against the Seahawks, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio blitzed
32 percent of the time hoping to thwart the running game.
Slowing the Seahawks starts with Marshawn Lynch, who has been as
successful against the 49ers as any running back in the league.
The 49ers have not allowed a 100-yard rusher this season. Lynch
was the last player to do it in last December's 42-13 win in
Seattle. The Seahawks own the league's No. 28 passing attack
that averages 194.3 yards per game, meaning the 49ers will try
to force quarterback Russell Wilson to beat them with his arm by
containing him inside the pocket.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
—Seahawks CB Richard Sherman vs. 49ers WR Anquan Boldin and/or
Michael Crabtree: No corner in the league had more
interceptions than Sherman (8). But even more impressive, those
interceptions came on just 58 targets, tied for the sixth-fewest
in the NFL. Sherman won't be shadowing a single receiver,
instead lining up on the left side of the formation going
against the strong-side receiver. That position will vary
between Crabtree and Boldin, who match up well given their
physical styles and strong hands that attack the ball. The 49ers
have had 100-yard receivers in each of their seven postseason
games under coach Jim Harbaugh, including at Green Bay and
Carolina. If quarterback Colin Kaepernick can avoid throwing any
interceptions to Sherman and Co., the 49ers will give themselves
a strong chance to win the game.
—49ers ILBs Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman vs. Seahawks RB
Marshawn Lynch: Lynch finished the regular season with 301
rushing attempts, good for second in the NFL behind LeSean
McCoy. That means the Seahawks are likely to continue to pound
the ball against the 49ers defense much like the Packers did in
the second half of their game. San Francisco held RB Eddie Lacy
to 81 yards on 21 attempts and will need to hold Lynch to a
similar number and force Wilson to beat them through the air.
Bowman and Willis rank as two of the league's premier inside
linebackers against the run and will have their hands full
trying to contain Lynch and taking away some of the Seahawks'
offensive balance that breeds their success.
—49ers offensive line vs. Seahawks defensive front: Aside
from playing against the Seahawks' vaunted defense, the biggest
issue with playing in CenturyLink Field lies in communication at
the line of scrimmage. Specifically, center Jonathan Goodwin
faces the challenge of trying to change protections amidst the
intense noise provided by the crowd. The 49ers have not been
good at protecting Kaepernick in Seattle. That must change if
they hope to avoid turnovers and losing the key battle of field
position. Seattle sacks the quarterback 7.5 percent of their
snaps, good for sixth-best in the NFL. The 49ers will have to
keep Kaepernick upright in order to give themselves a chance.
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