49ers vs. Seahawks: Winners, losers from Week 17 NFC West clincher

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Joe Staley #74 of the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

Winner: Left Tackle Joe Staley

Imagine being in the prime of your career, seeing your team make three consecutive NFC Championship games, barely losing a Super Bowl and then watching as it all falls apart in short order just a couple of years later.

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Well, that was left tackle Joe Staley‘s journey, which has covered some pretty rough patches in team history ever since 2014.

The 35-year-old Staley is a winner here for a couple reasons, including an excellent job shutting down Seahawks EDGE Jadeveon Clowney over the course of the night. Clowney never got to Jimmy Garoppolo after being such a wrecking ball when these two teams last played back in Week 10.

But he’s also a winner for paralleling the 49ers process of exorcising the longtime demon that was his team’s efforts at CenturyLink Field.

Remember, San Francisco hadn’t won in Seattle since December of 2011.

“I just got emotional,” Staley told The Athletic’s David Lombardi after the game. “It just kind of hit me like a wave. It was just being part of this franchise for so long, playing here and not winning. Having a game here where everything was on the line for the regular season title. …it just felt good.”

Yeah, we feel the same way, too, Joe.

Next. Position grades, analysis from 49ers' Week 17 win vs. Seahawks. dark

At any rate, Staley has been able to see his team’s turnaround, while clinching the division crown in a place where the 49ers haven’t had much luck at all lately.

For that reason, too, Staley is a winner in Week 17.