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The San Francisco 49ers currently have a 1.5 game lead in the NFC West and can clinch at least a playoff spot with win over the New England Patriots on Sunday. With a 49ers win and a loss by the Seattle Seahawks this weekend, San Francisco will win the NFC West division for the second straight season. So it’s simple for the 49ers, win and they are in. Lose and they face the prospect of heading to Seattle in two weeks with only a half-game lead, with the NFC West title on the line.

Going into New England and beating the Patriots, where they have won 20 straight games in December, will not be easy. Even though Colin Kaepernick has played well, he will be making just his fifth start of his career, so you know Bill Belichick will be looking to exploit his inexperience. Despite the recent play by the 49ers there are no guarantees they will win against a very good and scary Patriots team, especially after their dismantling of the Texans this past Monday night. The 49ers are not only playing for playoff seeding and to stay atop of the NFC West, but also to make a huge statement to the rest of the NFL by beating Tom Brady on his home turf.

The Packers, Bears, Seahawks and Giants all sit between .5 and 1.5 games back of the 49ers in the playoff picture. So there is little room for a 49ers loss in the final three games of the season. Should San Francisco lose their next two games, a possibility with the way New England and Seattle have played at home this season, might mean the 49ers fall from the top of the NFC West and a second seed in the playoffs, to fighting for their playoff lives against the Cardinals in the season finale.

We all know how good New England is at home, but so is Seattle this season with a 6-0 record at CenturyLink Field, which includes wins over the Packers and Patriots. The playoffs start in Foxborough on Sunday night, in front of a national TV audience for the 49ers. Does December football get any better than this?

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With 49ers wide receiver Randy Moss going up against one of his former employers, the focus this week has been on him because he played four seasons in New England, including a record breaking season in 2007. The insight he will provide the Niners defense with his knowledge of the Patriots offense will help out, but you know he also wants to have a huge game to show everyone in New England he is still a threat at receiver. In anticipation of the game Moss spoke with the media after Wednesday’s practice, something he has rarely done this season.

There are multiple reasons why Moss has not talked to the media this season. Top among them is the receiver not wanting to be a distraction for the 49ers while he is trying to make a comeback in the NFL this season. In other words, he is putting the team first and himself second. Plus, after years of a tumultuous relationship with the media, I don’t think he has a positive view of them.

With a game coming up in New England even Moss could not hold back from talking with the media, although it lasted all of about five minutes. He had a lot to say about the Patriots, but what stood out the most were his thoughts on Colin Kaepernick,

I think his ability to be able to come off the bench and lead a team. I think that’s most important because, no disrespect to Alex (Smith), I think most backup quarterbacks as young as he is are waiting in the shadows just kind of like Aaron Rodgers was with Brett Favre. And I’m not comparing Alex and Brett, or Aaron Rodgers and Kap, but I think most second-year quarterbacks are just waiting in the shadow and just waiting to get their shot. I think Kap’s been able to come in and just lead us as a whole unit. Anytime a guy can come in and lead like that, and I don’t mean verbally, but leading by example is what we as football players look for in a player. Especially in a quarterback. So I really just compliment his leadership and going out there and leading our offense up and down the field.

Here is the full transcript from Moss’ interview:

Bill Belichick said you were the best deep-ball receiver and smartest wide receiver he ever coached. What did you get from Bill Belichick?

RM: Well, I’ve learned a lot from Bill Belichick. I’ve said time and time again, before I got to New England, I thought I knew a lot about football. But I think he taught me a lot from A to Z. I still carry it to this day. The compliments are good and I respect coach Belichick and that organization still to this day. Hopefully, we’ll have a good game coming up Sunday night. I look forward to the game and hope the fans do, too.

Are there similarities to the Patriots and 49ers in how they are run? Discipline? Things like that.

RM: I don’t really want to get into all that because whatever I say is going to be the wrong thing to say. So, basically, I’ll leave it at, I’ve still got love and respect for the New England Patriots and everything that we did as a team up there. But now I’m a 49er so, like I said, hopefully we go up there Sunday night and we give it a good game.

That offense has been so pass-oriented. This one has been kind of run-based. What can you take from this offense?

Moss: One thing we know is that it’s going to be a hard-fought game coming from the offensive side because of their ability to put points up. So, hopefully, we can complement our defense. Not telling what’s going to happen, but, like I said, we’ve got to play complementary football. I think if we do that and try not to let Tom and their offense run the score up on us, I think it will be a good game. Like I said, man, we’re just coming in. We’re working each and every day and I look forward to the matchup Sunday night.

It looks like you have a good rapport with Colin Kaepernick, on and off the field. What impresses you most about him?

Moss: I think his ability to be able to come off the bench and lead a team. I think that’s most important because, no disrespect to Alex (Smith), I think most backup quarterbacks as young as he is are waiting in the shadows just kind of like Aaron Rodgers was with Brett Favre. And I’m not comparing Alex and Brett, or Aaron Rodgers and Kap, but I think most second-year quarterbacks are just waiting in the shadow and just waiting to get their shot. I think Kap’s been able to come in and just lead us as a whole unit. Anytime a guy can come in and lead like that, and I don’t mean verbally, but leading by example is what we us as football players look for in a player. Especially in a quarterback. So I really just compliment his leadership and going out there and leading our offense up and down the field.

Can you do anything to help the defense prepare for the Patriots?

Moss: I think that New England has, you know switching offensive coordinators, I don’t know … everybody knows that Bill Belichick is a so-called genius. He changes it up every week so there’s not really much input that I can give for the week. I just said, you know, have your head on swivel and be ready for anything because of the way they’re playing, just coming off a Monday night game against the so-called best team in the league in the Houston Texans, They put 40-something points up and really embarrassed them, so I don’t think we want to be that team and get embarrassed on national television. So, like I said, hopefully we come prepared and ready to play a good game.

What happened when you injured your finger (against the Bears)?

Moss: Man, (Kaepernick) dislocated my finger. Really, the play was designed for the ball to be thrown in the first hole and I think I got to the second hole, or we call it windows as wide receivers. And when he found me in the second hold, it was really too late to throw it, but he threw it anyway, so he had to put one of those Randy Johnson fastballs on me and when it hit my finger, I felt my finger pop and I dislocated it. I had to come back to the sideline and the doctor had to pop it back in. It hurt for about a week and, like I said, throughout the game it hurts, but that’s nothing to cry about over a sore finger. I could see if it was a knee or an ankle or shoulder or something like that, but a finger? Everybody’s fingers hurt. This time of year everything hurts on everybody, so there’s no need or no room to be crying. I think it’s just time for us to just try to make this playoff push and it starts in Foxborough Sunday night.

Has that happened before?

Moss: I try to take pride in taking care of my body and finessing the balls as the come to me, but Kap throws hard. He’s very strong, he works out every day and I didn’t really say anything to him besides just keep doing what he’s doing. My finger will heal up. It hurt, it hurt, it really did. Tried not to show any tears, I don’t know if they caught me crying or not, but it did hurt. Like I said, man, this is not the time of year to be crying because it’s late in the season and, like I said, everybody’s hurt, everybody’s ailing, everybody’s feeling a little bit of pain and some go home and some keep moving and we want to be the team that keeps moving.

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With a brutal two-game road stretch for the San Francisco 49ers that starts in New England on Sunday night, Colin Kaepernick faces his biggest game of his young career.  After the last two games in which the 49ers offense has looked less than stellar, Kaepernick will need to be at the top of his game for the 49ers to win on Sunday night.

For Kaepernick, the game against the Patriots is an opportunity to cement himself as the starting quarterback for the 49ers not only for the rest of the season, but for years to come.  If he can beat the Patriots on the road, he is the undisputed man under center for San Francisco.  If the 49ers lose and Kaepernick plays poorly, we can expect the talk of who should be the starter at QB to continue.

Kaepernick will only be making his fifth start of his career by heading into New England where the Patriots have won the last 20 home games in December.  The Patriots recently demolished the AFC’s best team (Houston Texans) this past Monday night, so they will be ready for primetime.  Heading into Tom Brady’s turf on National TV is a tall task for any quarterback, but for Kaep it will even be tougher because he has not been in a big game situation before like he will be against the Patriots.

This will be a huge test for Kaepernick to see if he has the mentality and the skills to go into New England and leave with a victory.  Kaep’s first start of his career against the Bears on Monday Night Football was a big game.  So was the following week on the road against the Saints.  But neither team was anywhere close to being as good as Bill Belichick’s Patriots.

As well as Kaepernick has played, one concern is that fact that Harbaugh had to call four timeouts in Sunday’s 27-13 win over the Dolphins so the offense wouldn’t be hit with delay of game penalties.  All of this happened at home with a friendly crowd and against a team with a 5-7 record.  Somehow that did not come back to bite the 49ers and they were able to still pull out the win.  But against the Patriots, Belichick will take advantage of those rookie mistakes.  Kaepernick will need to do a better job of calling the plays in the huddle faster and making sure his players are lined up correctly.  The Patriots defense will be looking to make life miserable for Kaep all game and to turn his frustrations into costly mistakes.  In the end, the game will come down to not only the play of Kaepernick, but also how he handles himself mentally in the game.