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THE DAILY ROLL

Danny Dave and Moore

Seahawks are 12-point favorites, but beating 49ers isn’t a sure thing

The Seahawks crushed San Francisco 20-3 just four weeks ago in the 49ers' home stadium in Santa Clara. (AP)

I wonder when the last time a 4-5 team was favored by 12 points in an NFL game. That’s the case Sunday at CenturyLink Field, and as crazy as that sounds on the surface, you can actually make a case for the line being low, that it should be around 17 or even 20.

Just four weeks ago, the Seahawks crushed the 49ers 20-3 in Santa Clara. So if they can beat the 49ers on the road by 17, shouldn’t they win by more than that at home?

You would think. But whenever you start to think you know something about the Seahawks, you find out that you really don’t. As we all know, with their personnel and track record with that personnel, they should be a heck of a lot better than they are.

But their record says they’re a below-average team. And the 49ers, for as terrible as we think they are, they’re 3-6 and just one game behind the Seahawks. Think about that for a second, if the 49ers win on Sunday, the Seahawks will be tied for last place in the NFC West.

But I’m assuming on Monday, we’ll all be talking about a Seahawks’ win and improving their record to 5-5 while looking to see what the victory did for their playoff chances.

Here’s the encouraging thing. We pretty much know that the Seahawks have to win six of their final seven games to get into the playoffs. If that happens, they’ll be as hot as any playoff team, and all of this hand wringing about their season thus far will disappear.

And we can still legitimately think the Seahawks will turn it on in the second half of the season because that’s what they’ve done in the past. It’s a consistent trait of Carroll’s teams in Seattle and at USC.

But for me, it’s getting harder and harder to think about that switch being flipped this year, not with a defense that continues to give up fourth-quarter leads and an offensive line that isn’t playoff caliber.

If the 49ers and Seahawks played Sunday’s game 100 times, I’m guessing the Seahawks would win 95 of them. But what if one of those five games with the 49ers winning is the one that is played on Sunday?

The Texans were double-digit underdogs and defeated unbeaten Cincinnati last Monday night. Last Sunday, the Lions were double-digit underdogs and beat Green Bay.

Blaine Gabbert replaced Colin Kaepernick last Sunday and led the 49ers to a 17-16 win over the Falcons, who entered the game at 6-2. The 49ers have also defeated a 7-2 Vikings’ team.

But the Seahawks have covered the spread in eight consecutive games, and after a sputtering first half, I think they’ll do just enough to make it nine in a row.

Line: Seahawks by 12
Prediction: Seahawks 24, 49ers 10
Season record against the spread: 4-4-1

The Go 2 Guy also writes for SeattlePI.com and KitsapSun.com. You can reach Jim at jimmoorethego2guy@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @cougsgo.

About the Author

Jim Moore

Jim Moore can be heard on "Danny, Dave and Moore". Also known as "The Go 2 Guy", Jim helped launch 710 ESPN Seattle in 2009. He was previously a reporter and columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for 26 years. Follow Jim: @cougsgo

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