Who would have thought that a Week 7 matchup on Thursday night in the NFC West between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks would be for the division lead over the other?
My guess is not many.
For one, the 49ers were set as huge favorites to win the division this season, as they ran away with it in 2011.
Second, Seattle came into the season starting rookie quarterback Russell Wilson, and the nature of a rookie starting would tend for people to lean in the direction of a rebuilding or a non-contending phase for the season.
Wrong.
The Seahawks sit at 4-2 on the season, just the like 49ers. But Seattle has notched wins over Green Bay, and most recently New England last weekend, which are two of the most quality wins of any team this season.
San Francisco comes in off of an embarrassing loss at home to the New York Giants, where the offense was only able to muster three points. But San Francisco gets this one at home against, with the Seahawks coming into a tough environment. At the same time though, it is a huge opportunity for Wilson and company.
Wilson hasn’t been the only great story out of Seattle this season. That Seahawks defense is quickly becoming one of the best in the NFL. Seattle is a top-five overall defense ranks second against the run giving up just 70 yards per game, and 13th against the pass. In total, they are surrendering less than 300 yards per game.
This should be a great matchup between the 49ers rushing attack, which ranks No.1 in the NFL, against that Seahawks No.2 rush defense.
This has all of the makings to be a very low scoring affair though, with defense taking the day. The 49ers rank 2nd against the pass and 9th against the run, so it appears that yards will be at a premium.
This appeared to be a lackluster match up at the start of the season, but going into Week 7, this one is definitely a marquee matchup.