The NFC title game is - for the second time in four years - a divisional struggle. This time it's the turn of the NFC West, and if you'd have told me three years ago that the NFC West would have the two best teams in the conference, I'd have got genuinely angry with you and possibly stood on your foot to emphasise it. Seriously I'd have been really annoyed.
Here's why I like the 49ers: Firstly, remember this is just one opinion, and Pickwatch is a site of many, so if you don't like this one, that's absolutely fine. Now, the reason I see the 49ers winning is that they have hit full-stride at the exact right time of the season, whereas the Seahawks appear to have stagnated somewhat since mid-season. Sure they've had some impressive wins, but they feel like a team that is lacking offensive momentum, and the way the Saints passed on them last week - and rushed to a certain extent - leaves question marks about their defensive stability.
As much as I like Russell Wilson, it's no secret that he is a game-changer, and like I said about Brady yesterday, when the game is on the line there are few players better, but I think the 49ers will stuff Marshawn Lynch and the Seahawks may find themselves desperately trying to figure out how to move the ball by the second half. Colin Kaepernick has Vernon Davis, Anquan Boldin and Michael Crabtree, whereas WIlson has some solid but unspectacular guys like Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin.
To put it in a nutshell (whatever that even means), I think the Seahawks are in real trouble if the 49ers take away the run, but if the Seahawks shut down Frank Gore, the 49ers can still win through the air. **
**Sometimes you have to stop over-thinking these things...
San Francisco 49ers @ Seattle Seahawks (6:30pm)
**Matchup Difficulty: 80.58% **(the higher the score, the better the experts' success rate when picking these two teams. An 'average' matchup would be 62%)
Consensus: **Seattle 64%**
Top Overall: **Seattle 81.8**%
Best Pick Index:
The Best Pick Index tracks which experts have picked the two teams most accurately at home and away this season, before ranking them based on their overall accuracy.
(this table will be updated as picks come in)
San Francisco
Seattle
Rank
Expert
Affiliation
Road %
Home %
Overall
Pick
1
Jamey Eisenberg
CBS
100.00%
87.50%
93.8%
SF
2
Ryan Fowler
FOX
100.00%
87.50%
93.8%
No Pick
3
Whatifsports
FOX
100.00%
87.50%
93.8%
SEA
4
Kurt Warner
NFL
100.00%
87.50%
93.8%
No Pick
5
Steve Mariucci
NFL
100.00%
87.50%
93.8%
SF
6
Chris Hansen
Bleacher Report
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SEA
7
Matt Bowen
Bleacher Report
100.00%
75.00%
87.5%
SEA
8
Tyson Langland
Bleacher Report
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SEA
9
Dave Richard
CBS
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SEA
10
John Breech
CBS
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SF
11
Will Brinson
CBS
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SEA
12
Cris Carter
ESPN
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SEA
13
K.C. Joyner
ESPN
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SF
14
Mike Ditka
ESPN
100.00%
75.00%
87.5%
SF
15
Tom Jackson
ESPN
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SEA
16
John Halpin
FOX
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SEA
17
Michael Fabiano
NFL
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SEA
18
Chris Brockman
NFL
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SF
19
Chris Wesseling
NFL
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SEA
20
Gregg Rosenthal
NFL
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SF
21
Marc Sessler
NFL
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SF
22
Matt Smith
NFL
75.00%
100.00%
87.5%
No Pick
23
Michael Irvin
NFL
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SEA
24
Rich Eisen
NFL
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SEA
25
Michael David Smith
PFT
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SEA
26
Pickwatch
Pickwatch
100.00%
75.00%
87.5%
SF
27
Gordon McGuinness
ProFootballFocus
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SEA
28
Sam Monson
ProFootballFocus
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SEA
29
Frank Schwab
Yahoo
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
No Pick
30
Les Carpenter
Yahoo
75.00%
100.00%
87.5%
No Pick
31
Black Tie
NFL
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SEA
32
Vinnie Iyer
Sporting News
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SEA
33
Don Banks
Sports Illustrated
87.50%
87.50%
87.5%
SEA
34
Jim Corbett
USA Today
100.00%
75.00%
87.5%
SF
35
Brian Baldinger
NFL
83.33%
83.33%
83.3%
SF
36
Brad Gagnon
Bleacher Report
87.50%
75.00%
81.3%
SEA
37
Knox Bardeen
Bleacher Report
87.50%
75.00%
81.3%
SF
38
Michael Schottey
Bleacher Report
87.50%
75.00%
81.3%
SF
39
Ty Schalter
Bleacher Report
75.00%
87.50%
81.3%
SEA
40
Zach Kruse
Bleacher Report
87.50%
75.00%
81.3%
SEA
41
Prediction Machine
CBS
87.50%
75.00%
81.3%
SEA
42
Ryan Wilson
CBS
75.00%
87.50%
81.3%
SEA
43
Adam Schefter
ESPN
75.00%
87.50%
81.3%
SF
44
Keyshawn Johnson
ESPN
87.50%
75.00%
81.3%
SEA
45
Mark Schlereth
ESPN
87.50%
75.00%
81.3%
SF
46
Merill Hoge
ESPN
75.00%
87.50%
81.3%
SF
47
Mike Golic
ESPN
87.50%
75.00%
81.3%
SF
48
Pick ‘em
ESPN
87.50%
75.00%
81.3%
SEA
49
Seth Wickersham
ESPN
87.50%
75.00%
81.3%
SEA
50
Adam Meyer
FOX
87.50%
75.00%
81.3%
No Pick
51
Chris Law
NFL
75.00%
87.50%
81.3%
SEA
52
Dan Hanzus
NFL
75.00%
87.50%
81.3%
SEA
53
Henry Hodgson
NFL
87.50%
75.00%
81.3%
SEA
54
NFL FAN PICKS
NFL
87.50%
75.00%
81.3%
SEA
55
Steve Wyche
NFL
75.00%
87.50%
81.3%
SF
56
Khaled Elsayed
ProFootballFocus
75.00%
87.50%
81.3%
SEA
57
Nathan Jahnke
ProFootballFocus
75.00%
87.50%
81.3%
SEA
58
Rick Drummond
ProFootballFocus
75.00%
87.50%
81.3%
SEA
59
Yahoo Users
Yahoo
87.50%
75.00%
81.3%
SEA
60
Nate Davis
USA Today
75.00%
87.50%
81.3%
SEA
61
Tom Pelissero
USA Today
75.00%
87.50%
81.3%
SEA
62
Accuscore
Accuscore
87.50%
75.00%
81.3%
SEA
63
Andrea Hangst
Bleacher Report
75.00%
75.00%
75.0%
SEA
64
Erik Frenz
Bleacher Report
87.50%
62.50%
75.0%
SEA
65
Matt Miller
Bleacher Report
75.00%
75.00%
75.0%
SF
66
Mike Freeman
Bleacher Report
75.00%
75.00%
75.0%
SF
67
Jason La Canfora
CBS
62.50%
87.50%
75.0%
SEA
68
Josh Katzowitz
CBS
62.50%
87.50%
75.0%
SEA
69
Pete Prisco
CBS
62.50%
87.50%
75.0%
SEA
70
Eric Allen
ESPN
75.00%
75.00%
75.0%
SEA
71
Joel Beall
FOX
87.50%
62.50%
75.0%
SF
72
Dave Damashek
NFL
62.50%
87.50%
75.0%
SF
73
Elliot Harrison
NFL
87.50%
62.50%
75.0%
SF
74
Heath Evans
NFL
62.50%
87.50%
75.0%
No Pick
75
Kevin Patra
NFL
75.00%
75.00%
75.0%
SF
76
Michael Silver
NFL
62.50%
87.50%
75.0%
SEA
77
Shaun O'Hara
NFL
75.00%
75.00%
75.0%
SEA
78
Warren Sapp
NFL
75.00%
75.00%
75.0%
No Pick
79
Steve Palazzolo
ProFootballFocus
75.00%
75.00%
75.0%
SEA
80
Lindsay H. Jones
USA Today
75.00%
75.00%
75.0%
SEA
81
Simon Samano
USA Today
75.00%
75.00%
75.0%
SF
82
Adam Rank
NFL
75.00%
71.43%
73.2%
SF
83
Ron Jaworski
ESPN
75.00%
62.50%
68.8%
SEA
84
Marshall Faulk
NFL
75.00%
62.50%
68.8%
No Pick
85
Mike Florio
PFT
62.50%
75.00%
68.8%
SEA
86
Ben Stockwell
ProFootballFocus
75.00%
62.50%
68.8%
SEA
87
Neil Hornsby
ProFootballFocus
62.50%
75.00%
68.8%
SF
88
Pete O'Brien
USA Today
62.50%
75.00%
68.8%
SF
89
Chris Mortensen
ESPN
50.00%
75.00%
62.5%
SEA
90
Melissa Stark
NFL
62.50%
62.50%
62.5%
SF
91
Sterling Sharpe
NFL
50.00%
75.00%
62.5%
SEA
92
Jarrett Bell
USA Today
62.50%
62.50%
62.5%
SF
93
Coin Toss
None
50.00%
50.00%
50.0%
No Pick
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