49ers won’t watch Seahawks relinquish NFC West lead soon

The 49ers have gotten awfully close to reclaiming the NFC West lead, but the first-place Seahawks have a pretty cushy schedule coming up.

Few (if anyone) predicted the Seattle Seahawks would be leading the NFC West after 10 weeks of regular-season action this season.

But that’s precisely what’s happened.

The San Francisco 49ers, meanwhile, are inching closer to reclaiming the division lead, particularly after back-to-back wins over the two teams from Southern California, the Los Angeles Rams in Week 8 and then the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 10 with the Niners’ bye in between.

And even though the Hawks lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over in Munich, Germany, to open up Week 10, San Francisco still stayed in second place with its 5-4 record.

At 6-4, Seattle remains in first place heading into its own bye for Week 11.

Read More: Niners stay 2nd place in NFC West after Week 10, Rams drop to 4th

All signs are pointing to the 49ers overtaking the Seahawks for the division lead, right?

Perhaps, but it’s certainly not automatic, especially when one looks at the Hawks’ upcoming schedule.

Seahawks have easy NFL schedule before hosting 49ers in Week 15

Seattle returns from the bye week and travels to take on the scuffling two-win Las Vegas Raiders, who just lost in ugly fashion to an awfully green interim head coach, Jeff Saturday, and the Indianapolis Colts in Week 12.

Perhaps Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels is able to turn things around between now and then, but one probably wouldn’t assume the Niners get much help from their former Bay Area neighbors here.

A week later, the Seahawks travel to take on the freefalling Rams, who are placing All-Pro wide receiver Cooper Kupp (ankle) on injured reserve and have been dealing with injuries to quarterback Matthew Stafford, too. Perhaps LA has better luck against the Hawks than it did against San Francisco, but the context is certainly there for Seattle to keep Los Angeles’ woes going.

Few are going to predict the three-win Carolina Panthers beating the Seahawks at Lumen Field in Week 14 either.

49ers vs. Seahawks on Thursday Night Football is vital

Remember, the 49ers pulled off a win over the Hawks way back in Week 2, and the Niners already have three wins within the NFC West this season, which could prove to be a massive tiebreaking advantage when playoff seeding is determined.

Yet Seattle’s next big challenge could actually be when San Francisco travels north to Lumen Field for Thursday Night Football in Week 15.

The 49ers have to get through the Arizona Cardinals, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins before then, of course, but that Week 15 primetime showdown could end up determining the fate of the NFC West, should the Niners wind up sweeping the season series.

Ideally, San Francisco gets some unexpected help from the Hawks’ opponents following their Week 11 bye, but the bigger likelihood is the 49ers will need to take care of business themselves.