49ers at Seahawks

Hard to find a stat angle to talk about in the SF-SEA matchup. That's because the two teams have nearly indentical stat profiles.

The Seahawks earned slightly stronger defensive stats and they play at home in a noisy bandbox. Hat tip to Coach Carroll for a great season. The 49ers are the current NFC champions. No surprise that the next champ will be coming out of the NFC West, the strongest division in the game, in our view. You could make a case for the AFC West being strongest, putting the Chiefs, Chargers and Broncos in the playoffs but for my money I'll take the division sending two teams to the Conference Championships. It once was the East but now the strongest football is out of the West.

Just to recap from last week's item on the 49er-Panthers contest the 49ers and Seahawks play the game the same way and earned similar figures on all key stats. Both teams posses strong defense, especially against the pass and feature well-balanced offensive attacks (they average 30+ rushes per game) and an efficient passing approach that limits costly mistakes (sacks and INTs). They both have mobile QBs who can pull the down and take off if in trouble. Repeat: It's a champion's profile.

The wining team will need near-flawless execution: making fewer mistakes on offense or forcing mistakes on defense.

Everything you could want in a football game this Sunday. Computer likes Seahawks at home by 6.5. Looks like another toss up to me. Great Sunday for football fans.

Bill Sanders for BudGoodeSports.com
dr.bill@wrsanders.com

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