Um...the 49ers are tired, the Seahawks are fresh

Not really hearing about this but pretty basic.

49ers have been on the road 5 or their last 6 games. They didn't have a bye week...they spent their "bye week" duking it out in subzero Green Bay. Travel back to San Fran...then travel to Carolina....play in a hugely physical game...travel back to San Fran...now travel to Seattle.

Seattle has been home for weeks now. Travel has been zero. They've had a bye. They are rested. They are fresh.

That's the story of Sunday to me. I don't think this is a close game. Not because the 49ers aren't good...they are. But because the 49ers are tired, and we will see it in the 2nd half.

And this i

My only hesitation to this line of thought is that it's not like these guys are flying Coach.... they have their own chartered plane, comfy oversize seats.... they stay only long enough to play their game so it's not like they have jet lag....

Could being on the road so much wear them out? Sure... but it could also have become the status-quo at this point....

Also, I wonder if the Pro's do similar to College teams the night before a game.... UW players and coaches actually stay in a Hotel in Bellevue the night before a game... so they are actually in pretty similar sleeping arrangements to the visiting team the night before....

I remember when they came off their big victory in Foxboro everyone was riding high on the 49ers bandwagon. There was lots of travel, lots of emotion. The 49ers were tired but nobody realized it. They came to Seattle and got their doors blown off.

The biggest difference is the dings turn into nagging sore spots and then aches over a few weeks of play, being able to relax at home and get the normal prep you need helps. None of the teams have been normal with all the interviews and appearences that has been working towards the build up. Less time to get treatment, less time to relax, sleep and heal. Seahawks had one game at home, huge edge and help and a healing week. 49ers have had a physical road and no routine thats normal.

In what is labeled as a physical rivalry for all the marbles to represent the NFC, I see it like this. Seattle has been in wars for the last 5 or 6 weeks with one weeks repreive to get better, we are battle tested and have the experionce with the head games that teams have tried to lay on us. 49ers where have been in battles are still nursing a lot of nics and dings and have shown to be edgy as seen in the Panther game. Mental fatigue will play as big a part as physical, lose your temper and get provoked can cost your team as we seen versus the Rams. Boldin and others were on the edge in Carolina.

I do not think that anyone is denying that the Seahawks pretty much have all the situational advantages (besides the fact that Harvin is unlikely to play, which is more of a key injury than the 49ers have right now), but you could say the same thing about Green Bay and Carolina too.

The 49ers probably should have beat New York in the NFC Championship game back in 2012. The Giants snuck into the division championship spot one game better than .500. They had to face a brutal away game in Green Bay during the winter while the 49ers got a bye and faced the Saints at home, a team that was not known to play physically punishing football. They had to face what was for San Francisco, some of the harshest weather imaginable, in the 50's and pouring down rain on a muddy, unfriendly field against a 49ers run game and defense that was better suited to the conditions.

But New York was on a tear coming into the playoffs and two fumbled punts by Kyle Williams allowed New York to kick a field goal in overtime and advance to the Superbowl.

So yeah, Seattle holds all the advantages in this game, but a good team can still find a way to win under disadvantageous conditions, and the parallels between the Giants two years ago and the 49ers today are uncanny.

Pretty sure Seattle's special teams are better than that imo

Like I said...you will see it in the second half big time.

Also we played on Saturday at home. They played Sunday then lost more time traveling home and now have to travel to Seattle.

If Percy plays it is because the extra rest

It's not something that will show up right away, but as the game goes on, if Seattle can keep pounding out the game it will surely develop into an issue.

That is a lot of travel and it has been overcome many times before, but the real key to it is that in at least the last two games they have not had an advantage on TOP. It has been even at around exactly 30 minutes in each game. It will be a factor at some point, especially if there is any swing in momentum for the Hawks. If that happens, the Hawks are sure to pounce on it.

If Lynch gets it going it won't matter.

CandlestickBum":21ropady said:

So yeah, Seattle holds all the advantages in this game, but a good team can still find a way to win under disadvantageous conditions, and the parallels between the Giants two years ago and the 49ers today are uncanny.

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Aside from possibly getting hot late in the year.. I don't really see how the Giants two years ago and 49ers are similar?

The Giants were 9-7 and won their last 2 to even make the playoffs.. then they were gifted a soft Falcons team and a Packers team that even though they won 15 games.. had a pretty miserable defense.

The 49ers meanwhile very likely SHOULD have lost to Green Bay (Micah Hyde had a pick 6 go off his hands on that last FG drive), and matched up with a Panthers team that had no real semblance of an offense + no playoff experience outside of Steve Smith.

The Seahawks are a much much different animal than anything the Giants had to face on their march to the Super Bowl.

CandlestickBum":1gaocipw said:

I do not think that anyone is denying that the Seahawks pretty much have all the situational advantages (besides the fact that Harvin is unlikely to play, which is more of a key injury than the 49ers have right now), but you could say the same thing about Green Bay and Carolina too.

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Yes and no.

San Fran was by almost any measure a better team than Green Bay, and San Fran was coming off fairly fresh from the regular season (two games removed from a home game). Even so, that game was brutal and San Fran very nearly (one dropped pick-six) lost that game and won it by three. Clearly the situational advantages favored Green Bay....but not by enough for San Fran to lose.

Moving on to Carolina, teams that are coming off a bye are vulnerable that first week (rust) and Carolina had no real playoff experience to boot. Against a typical WC seed that is inferior to the Panthers, the Panthers might have survived these problems. Against the 49ners they didn't. Putting it very simply the Niners punked Carolina and used their rust and playoff inexperience against them when they were most vulnerable. I note that teams that get a week off that DO survive the week off tend to do very well in the playoffs.

So now the 49ners after a very long road trip are facing a team at least as good as they are, at home, rested (having had the week off), but on a playoff roll (having survived that first week when they were most vulnerable), and also having about as much playoff moxie/experience.....and it's a team that's very familiar to you and isn't afraid of you in the slightest in their place.

It's a bad set up for the Niners.

The advantage Seattle has is they are pretty much healthy at the right time so i have all the confidence in the world in them. For the 9ers they are missing starting FB Bruce Miller which no one is talking about and that big converted D-lineman is rolling on a bad knee so the 9ers could be down to their 3rd string FB. I think if the 9ers have they're rookie TE from Rice playing FB it could affect the run game.

SeahawkTalons":1ksrglz1 said:

Pretty sure Seattle's special teams are better than that imo

Like I said...you will see it in the second half big time.

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That year, San Francisco had what was considered one of the best special teams units in the NFL. The normal punt returner, Ted Ginn Jr. was out with an injury and the backup, Kyle Williams, may have been playing with a concussion. Sometimes those are the breaks. You can do something write 95% of the time all year long and just have a streak of bad luck in a game where it counts.

CandlestickBum":3tmntndp said:

You can do something write 95% of the time all year long and just have a streak of bad luck in a game where it counts.

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100% agree... Good luck with that, brah... imo

Lynch Mob":29mkzu0v said:

The advantage Seattle has is they are pretty much healthy at the right time so i have all the confidence in the world in them. For the 9ers they are missing starting FB Bruce Miller which no one is talking about and that big converted D-lineman is rolling on a bad knee so the 9ers could be down to their 3rd string FB. I think if the 9ers have they're rookie TE from Rice playing FB it could affect the run game.

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Having Bruce Miller (a pro bowler) out hurts a lot, but probably not as much as Harvin. The 49ers replaced Miller with a combination of 3rd/4th string RB Anthony Dixon and DE Will Tukuafu have been taking turns as FB, so if Tukuafu is unable to perform, Dixon should be able to take over completely. Ahmad Brooks is of more concern (he has a cold or flu) and Carlos Rogers is looking like he might play, but he might not.

The 49ers are pretty banged up, probably more than the Seahawks, but it is not like the beginning of the year when they were playing with only one receiver who deserved to be starting.

CandlestickBum":1vb528sm said:

Lynch Mob":1vb528sm said:

The advantage Seattle has is they are pretty much healthy at the right time so i have all the confidence in the world in them. For the 9ers they are missing starting FB Bruce Miller which no one is talking about and that big converted D-lineman is rolling on a bad knee so the 9ers could be down to their 3rd string FB. I think if the 9ers have they're rookie TE from Rice playing FB it could affect the run game.

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Having Bruce Miller (a pro bowler) out hurts a lot, but probably not as much as Harvin. The 49ers replaced Miller with a combination of 3rd/4th string RB Anthony Dixon and DE Will Tukuafu have been taking turns as FB, so if Tukuafu is unable to perform, Dixon should be able to take over completely. Ahmad Brooks is of more concern (he has a cold or flu) and Carlos Rogers is looking like he might play, but he might not.

The 49ers are pretty banged up, probably more than the Seahawks, but it is not like the beginning of the year when they were playing with only one receiver who deserved to be starting.

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Percey Harvin for all the national attention is a non-issue. Seattle won thirteen games and the division without him. Seattle is more than able to win this coming game without him as well. I wasn't even refering to overt injuries but rather fatigue. I expect to see a very tired 49ners team in the second half and I suspect it's going to cost the 49ners.

Harvin has played like one quarter all year. He's just gravy.

Nobody has caught more touchdowns against the 49ers in the division than Baldwin....he's the one bringing the kryptonite imo

The twelves are the kryptonite.

BioDawg03":1xxee077 said:

My only hesitation to this line of thought is that it's not like these guys are flying Coach.... they have their own chartered plane, comfy oversize seats.... they stay only long enough to play their game so it's not like they have jet lag....

Could being on the road so much wear them out? Sure... but it could also have become the status-quo at this point....

Also, I wonder if the Pro's do similar to College teams the night before a game.... UW players and coaches actually stay in a Hotel in Bellevue the night before a game... so they are actually in pretty similar sleeping arrangements to the visiting team the night before....

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Negative. The players fly coach. Staff is in front. Hawks fly Hawaiian Airlines and though coach, they have entire rows to them selves. Which still suxass.

The Steelers sure weren't tired when they made it to SB40, or the Giants when they went to 42, and so on. I don't think "freshness" really matters.