The Seattle Seahawks travel to San Francisco on Sunday to take on the 49ers in an early season battle of the unbeatens. Yes, it’s early but it is also the time for one of the two teams to set the tone for NFC West supremacy, something Seattle has had and something San Francisco wants.
Last week, San Francisco went on the road and pulled out a late victory over the defending champs Arizona in a tight game. It wasn’t over until the final play when the 49ers sacked Kurt Warner. San Francisco had taken the lead on a Frank Gore's three-yard touchdown catch from Shaun Hill in the fourth quarter. The Cardinals had two opportunities to regain the lead but failed both times.
Hill was not impressive but he managed to pull out another win, completing 18 of 31 passes for 209 yards and one touchdown to lead the 49ers. Most importantly, Hill didn't throw an interception although he was sacked four times.
Gore was held to 30 yards on 22 carries, a 1.4 yard per carry average, but his biggest play was catching the winning touchdown. Vernon Davis led the 49ers with five receptions for 40 yards and was targeted several more times leading me to believe either Arizona has a problem covering the tight end or Davis is a focal point of the offense since their wide receiving core is only average at best.
The 49ers defense did a good job, intercepting Kurt Warner twice and getting three sacks as well as numerous hits on the old man. They held the Arizona run game to a combined 44 yards for Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower although they did allow Hightower to catch a game high 12 receptions for 121 yards. The defense used a base 3-4 with a good mixture of looks and disguised their pressure well. The majority of the time they brought four rushers but mixed in five and six men rushes with good results.
Seattle hosted the St. Louis Rams for their first game and although the final score was 28-0, the game was very close in the first half. After going into halftime up 14-0, thanks to a St. Louis touchdown that was called back for too many men on the field, the game was much more one-sided.
Matt Hasselbeck, the Seattle offensive MVP, settled into a rhythm and proved once again that although his isn’t the best quarterback ever, he is the reason the Seahawks have been so good for so long. He finished up going 25-of-36 for 279 yards passing with three touchdowns and two interceptions. The two picks were both early in the game. After he calmed down, he didn’t look close to throwing another one. Hasselbeck also ended the game upright and practically untouched as the line did a great job protecting him.
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