Three Keys to Victory for the 49ers Against the Seahawks

The final regular season game is right on the doorstep for the San Francisco 49ers with the pressure to win at an all-time high.

The NFC west is up for grabs for the 49ers so long as they can defeat the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field - a place that they have not been victorious at since 2011. Winning in Seattle is never easy for any team. No matter the state of the team, they always defend their home turf well with the “12th man” acting as a supplement. This is game is going to garner all the excitement and eyes of the entire football world.

The winner of this game in primetime on Sunday night football will not only win the division, but a potential first-round bye. For the San Francisco 49ers to win, they must follow these three keys to victory against the Seahawks to clinch the NFC west.

Sound pass protection

When these two teams first met in week 10, the glaring issue the 49ers had was pass protection. Jadeveon Clowney, Jarran Reed and company were among the league’s worst in pressure rate entering that game

Yet, they turned it up when they needed to but blasting Jimmy Garoppolo throughout the game.

The pass protection was piss poor at best and is still the worst performance on the year from the offensive line. They must have sound pass protection come Sunday if they want any hope to establish the offense. San Francisco’s offensive line likely will have a much better performance because week 10 was the return of Joe Staley and Mike McGlinchey. Since then, both players have settled into their own and have performed adequately (especially McGlinchey).

However, as well as these two have rounded into form, there are still issues with the pass protection. The interior has been the latest area of weakness that defenses are attacking. Should the pass protection get out of hand again - it would behoove Kyle Shanahan to roll Garoppolo out of the pocket. Hopefully for the 49ers sake it doesn’t reach that point or they could end up losing the division title.

Silence the crowd

The “12th man” will be entering CenturyLink Field full of energy and excitement.

Knowing what is at stake against a hated division rival in primetime is more than enough to rile the crowd. It will get immensely loud if the 49ers start getting their heads bashed in. That is why they must get ahead early and keep their foot on the gas pedal to silence the crowd. Making sure the crowd has nothing to cheer for is huge. It proved to impact the 49ers back in the SuperDome against the New Orleans Saints. Even Shanahan admitted that some of their calls were botched because Garoppolo misheard the play-call wrong.

The 49ers have to come out in this game guns blazing. There is no “feeling out the opponent” from an offensive standpoint. The very first offensive drive needs to be a score to humble the crowd. Make them feel like their efforts to yell, cheer and scream are worthless. That might even have a trickle down effect on the Seahawks. At least if they can do that, the homefield advantages that Seattle is supposed to have is meaningless.

Slowing Russell Wilson down

Signing Marshawn Lynch when Chris Carson went out for the season was a great late season addition for Seattle. It’s very rare that a team can add a legitimate starter as a replacement for an injured player.

However, his reunion with the Seahawks must not cause a knee-jerk reaction.

The main threat of the Seahawks is still Russell Wilson. Lynch could become an issue for the 49ers, but containing him as opposed to Wilson is night and day. The Arizona Cardinals showed last week that limiting Wilson is a major key to winning against the Seahawks. Back in week 10, the 49ers did an excellent job defending against Wilson.

They threw the kitchen sink at him. From blitzing to beautifully disguised coverages to force Wilson to freeze. San Francisco is sure to replicate some of that game-plan while putting in some new wrinkles. If they can succeed again by containing him, then the 49ers will be setup nicely to emerge as the victor.

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