"You can stare at the game tape until your retinas detach. You can break down the metrics until you're hallucinating EPA. None of that will tell you a single useful thing going into this NFC Divisional Round. That is the specific, high-grade torment of this Saturday's rubber match between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks. We are well past the point of X's and O's here, folks. We have waded deep into the murky waters of psychological warfare."
"If you are a fan of logic as in you enjoy things making sense you love Seattle in this game. They are touchdown favorites for a reason. They are rested, having not played a snap of meaningful football since Week 18, and they possess tangible proof of concept, having strolled into Santa Clara just two weeks ago and beaten the 49ers into a pulp. What more could you want?"
"On the other side, you have the 49ers, a franchise currently clinging to a very different version of reality. They look at that Week 18 drubbing and see fiction. They see a game that flips entirely if Christian McCaffrey doesn't bobble a catch or if a defender actually falls on a Darnold fumble. They have convinced themselves they are a team of destiny a place where logic has no jurisdiction over the final score. And you know what? They just might be right."
The NFC Divisional Round matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks centers on psychological dynamics more than schematic advantages. Seattle enters as touchdown favorites, rested from a bye and buoyed by a recent dominant win over San Francisco in Santa Clara. Seattle's defense appears elite when fresh and presents a major obstacle for the 49ers. San Francisco regards the prior loss as aberrational, citing small margins and turnovers that could have flipped the result, and embraces a belief in destiny. The 49ers must prioritize time of possession and improved production from Christian McCaffrey to offset Seattle's advantages.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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