The San Francisco 49ers have been underdogs to their NFC West rivals, the Seattle Seahawks, for some time now, although that trend looks to have changed heading into the 2018 season.
Any San Francisco 49ers fan can go back to the 2014 NFC Championship game and recall how the Seattle Seahawks all but ended the Niners’ supremacy of the NFC West after cornerback Richard Sherman‘s tipped pass from then-San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick fell into the hands of linebacker Malcolm Smith.
The 49ers lost the game 23-17 and the franchise would soon fall into disarray, while the Seahawks would go on to win Super Bowl XLVIII in decisive fashion over the Denver Broncos.
San Francisco’s dynasty had fallen and Seattle’s was hitting its prime.
All good (or bad) things must come to an end, though, and it appears as if the Seahawks’ once-immovable hold on the NFC West is no longer. Ironically enough, both Sherman and Smith are members of the Niners now, and the 2018 Seahawks look little like the powerhouse that once dominated the conference.
Last year, Seattle relinquished its hold on the division, finishing 9-7 and giving way to the eventual NFC West champions, the Los Angeles Rams.
That was followed by a massive roster and front-office reshuffling, which suddenly has the Seahawks trending towards a retooling, of sorts, while the upstart 49ers may somehow be one of the new teams to beat in the NFC West.
San Francisco has lost nine consecutive contests to its divisional foe, including that 2014 conference championship. One has to go all the way back to Dec. 8, 2013 to find the Niners’ last victory over the Seahawks.
Simply stated, it’s been a while. A long while.
With the changing landscape in the division, Niner Noise breaks down what the 49ers face with their longtime arch nemesis this year and whether or not they can reverse what has been an ugly course of events dating back to 2014.