The San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks will reignite their storied rivalry on Wild Card Weekend, in a playoff game that, uh, might mean more to one of the two franchises.
The 49ers are out for blood, widely viewed as the biggest threat to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC despite going to battle with a seventh-rounder at quarterback.
These Seahawks? They’re just excited to be included.
Pete Carroll’s crew shed Russell Wilson this offseason, replacing him with Geno Smith and allowing the Denver Broncos to have the great pleasure of paying for his regression. So far, so spectacular, as Smith (despite some late-season difficulty) reset the franchise’s passing yardage mark for a single season, and thanks to some fortuitous bounces and Detroit Lions-created joy, Seattle will make their mark on the 2022-23 postseason.
How emphatic that mark will be has yet to be determined. Listening to Carroll’s press conference on Tuesday, it’s clear Seattle knows there’s a tough — if not painful — task ahead in these well-rounded and swarming 49ers.
Pete Carroll: “Unfortunately we’re playing the Niners.” #49ers || #FTTB pic.twitter.com/oxphDvBgHn
— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) January 10, 2023
Seattle Seahawks happy to be here in NFL Playoffs, want nothing to do with San Francisco 49ers
While trying to acknowledge how lucky his team was to escape from the brink of elimination (thanks, Lions!), Carroll admitted that it might be difficult to take advantage of the opportunity he’s been given.
“Unfortunately, we’re playing the Niners,” Carroll snickered. “And they’re loaded.”
If you’re interested in hearing 30 full seconds of a rival coach praising Brock Purdy and the entire 49ers enterprise, we heavily recommend the above video. Not too often you get a chance to absorb something like that.
These Seahawks will look very similar to the group that the 49ers whomped 27-7 in Week 2 (after Wilson’s “return to Seattle” the week prior), then edged 21-13 in mid-December. In terms of high-profile reinforcements, speedy wide receiver Dee Eskridge is the best Carroll can hope for to complicate DeMeco Ryans’ successful defensive scheme.
That means Carroll knows he has his work cut out for him, and he’s not afraid to flatter his way to Kyle Shanahan’s heart (which might be his best chance of catching the 49ers off guard). Hopefully, we’re headed for some more, “Aw, shucks” in the postgame from Seattle’s longtime steward.
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