The NFL 2022 regular season is done and now it is all about the playoffs with the Super Wildcard Weekend getting underway with a double header on Saturday which begins when the San Francisco 49ers take on the Seattle Seahawks.
These two teams know each other very well given that they are both from the NFC West and the champions San Francisco 49ers will be looking to assert their dominance over a Seahawks who started the season well but faded after that.
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers go into this match in incredible form as they have won their last 10 matches. That was a run which saw them wrap up the NFC West title pretty early on and their attention will have been on peaking for this match ever since then. There isn’t a question mark over whether the 49ers are good enough to go all the way this season but there might be one or two doubts over whether Brock Purdy can take them to the big dance in his first postseason experience.
You would imagine that he will need the top notch 49ers defence to keep assisting him but if they do that and no pressure comes along then you sense he’ll be fine given the exciting and dynamic options that the 49ers have on offense. The big test will come if a team gets a couple of scores ahead of San Francisco and they have to start forcing the issue. Only one team has scored more than 20 points on them in the last 10 weeks so we might not need that question to be answered.
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Seattle Seahawks
When Russell Wilson was traded after from the Seattle Seahawks without an immediate replacement coming in for him most judges would have thought that this was going to be the start of a transitional period for the former champions but a number of big name teams have fluffed their lines this term and so the Seahawks have a shot at a postseason run. They know if they are going to be champions they will need to win four matches on the road but teams have done that before.
One positive for the Seahawks is they have already played a win or bust match on the road as they had to win their final regular season game last week to have a chance of competing here. They didn’t just win it but held their nerve in overtime which should serve them well here. Seattle are going to need their defence to perform to its best levels to come through here you would think but if it does they have enough playmakers on offense to keep the 49ers honest at the very least.
Betting
I expect San Francisco 49ers to win this match but the playoffs are all about winning not running up a double figure win to cover handicaps or anything like that so I am in no rush to take them on the spread. I’m not in much more demand to back the Seattle Seahawks either because in two meetings with the 49ers this season they haven’t scored 20 points combined and you’ve got to think they’ll need that sort of number to stay competitive here. There is also the Brock Purdy question to answer.
He went very well in the regular season but it all cranks up a notch in the playoffs and we need to see how he goes with that. To help him cope I expect a lot of his passes to be simple ones to George Kittle, the tight end who always comes up with the goods when he is called upon. He has a receiving yards line of 44.5 which looks very low when you consider that he has caught for 93 yards against them this season and 181 last year. Seattle do give up yards to tight ends as they are so good against wide receivers and I’m expecting Kittle to collect a few passes here to go well beyond 45 yards.
Tips
Back G.Kittle – Over 44.5 receiving yards for a 3/10 stake at 1.90 with Coral
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