NFL Games of the Week: Week 16

NFL Games of the Week- Week 16 Seattle Seahawks v San Francisco 49ers


CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington is the venue for this weekend's Sunday Nigh Football encounter which can be viewed live on Channel 4 At 01:20 GMT.


This game is a pretty big deal, not only is it an NFC West divisional match up between two of the top defences in the league, but it also has big playoff implications. San Francisco have already clinched at least a wild card berth after their victory last weekend against the Patriots but a win in this matchup would clinch the NFC West and if other results go their way (they need the Green Bay Packers to lose) the Niners could get a first round bye, assuming they win. The Seahawks could seal a playoff spot with victory and depending on other results. I have talked about both teams in the past few weeks, they are actually quite similar, both teams have inexperienced Quarterbacks, the Sophomore Quarterback Colin Kaepernick is growing as the weeks go by, he is developing a good relationship with his receivers and he is keeping his mistakes to a minimum, his victory against the Patriots last weekend was quite monumental, while the Patriots don't possess what you would call a stellar defence (they are actually relatively okay in terms of points allowed, ranking 18th overall) registering a victory in Foxborough is impressive, he didn't look too overawed by the occasion as so many young QBs do in front of the national spotlight. They aren't many young QBs who could claim a victory over a guy like Tom Brady........


Step forward Seahawks rookie QB Russell Wilson, who in week 6 led the Hawks to a come from behind victory. Their prolific running attack stalled somewhat in the week 6 game, and Wilson put in a solid performance, including a 46 yard bomb to Sydney Rice with under 2 minutes to go. Albeit with an incredibly strong surrounding cast around him, Wilson has put together an incredibly good season, his story is somewhat of a clichéd underdog story, while a rather prolific College Quarterback for both North Carolina State and for Wisconsin (Wilson pursued a brief baseball career before his final year at NC State, going back to Wisconsin to finish his college career) nobody felt Wilson could make the transition at the NFL level, at 5ft l1in, Wilson was deemed to be too small for the position, in the 2010 season, the average starting Quarterback in the NFL was 6ft 3in, Wilson is of course far smaller than that, Drew Brees at 6ft is probably the closest to the Seahawks Quarterback. The perceived height problems related to Wilson's diminutive height, haven't materialised. Wilson has a Quarterback rating of 95.9, he has thrown 21 TDs and 9 Ints, like a lot of the newer breed of Quarterbacks, Wilson is also adept with his legs (Kaepernick, RG3, Newton, Luck, Tannehill etc), last weeks rout over the Buffalo Bills saw him register 3 TDs, but his ability to extend drives and plays with his legs has been a crucial asset to the Seahawks as they look for a playoff berth.


It's hard not to like what the Seahawks are doing on both sides of the ball, They have some stalwarts on defence in Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, Bruce Irvin and Chris Clemons. The Seahawks are an incredibly young team, most of their starters and star players are in their first 3 years in the league, some are only 4th/5th years, by and large though, they aren't relying on ageing talent. They have won some big games like the aforementioned Patriots clash and also registering a win over the Green Bay Packers, although to say it was in incredibly controversial circumstances is being a bit nice (see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWayQ6Y340k). Their offense, contains some very solid players, the likes of Marshawn Lynch, Sydney Rice, Golden Tate are finally showcasing some of their true potential, while Doug Baldwin is experiencing something akin to Second Season Syndrome. They don't throw for a massive amount of passing yards, but a great deal of their touchdowns come from that department, showing that their offense is more than a rushing attack, they inflicted beatdowns on the Cardinals and the Bills in the last couple of weeks (58-0 and 50-17) this would skew their current points per game stats somewhat, but their scoring rates prior to this were not incredibly good around 20 points per game. Their defence has made victory possible but if you leave out those two games against average opposition, it shows they are not perfect by any means (including these two games, their average jumps up to 25 points per game, tied for 11th in the league). The Hawks could have some problems this weekend though. Brandon Browner is serving his suspension for PED use, and their Cornerback unit has been decimated with both Marcus Trufant and Walter Thurmond missing last weekend's game. That may have been alright against the Bills, but you won't get away with that lack of quality against the Niners. Both are questionable to play and with Marshawn Lynch and Sydney Rice doubts, the Seahawks could be missing some big players.


The Niners have also been doing incredible work as I have talked about umpteen times this year. Last week I stressed that their decrease in turnovers was a bit disconcerting, my words may have reached Jim Harbaugh as last weekend the 49ers generated 4 of them, intercepting Tom Brady twice and recovering two fumbles, one leading to a touchdown for Donte Whitner, and Carlos Rogers' pick left the Niners 5 yards out (the Niners would get a touchdown in the following offensive series.). Their defence is quite phenomenal, even allowing for last weekend's blip (compared to their normal allowance, the Patriots 34 point haul was rather exorbitant) they rank first in points allowed per game, ahead of the Seahawks, by a single point. The Niners' receiving corps has grown into an incredibly productive outfit. Prior to this year, people questioned whether Michael Crabtree was worthy of his high draft status, while last season showed some signs that he was developing into a great talent, this year Crabtree has shown he is an incredible talent, in both the receiving and the rushing game. I have been incredibly impressed by Crabtree's ability to finish his blocks downfield and I think he has been incredibly important to their rushing game. His 7 TDs have contributed greatly to their passing attack, he has more catches this year with two games remaining, than he had last year, Crabtree is a very underrated receiver in my opinion.