San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan sat down with Greg Papa for his weekly interview with NBC Sports Bay Area. Shanahan and his squad know what it takes to enter a hostile environment and escape with a victory. They did so during Week 14 in one of the most difficult stadiums for a road team to play in — the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Shanahan knows Sunday night will be a tough test, too. Maybe even the toughest of the season. A lot is on the line. The winner walks away with the NFC West, and San Francisco could earn home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a victory.
Outside of the playoffs, games don't get much bigger than this.
Shanahan and the 49ers would love to have two home games on their path to the Super Bowl. The coach knows the Seattle crowd at CenturyLink Field will make it difficult for them but also feels that their games in New Orleans and even Baltimore helped prepare them for this matchup.
"Everyone talks about home-field advantage and things like that," Shanahan told Papa. "You hear it in all of sports. I always want to know the why do people say that. What is the true difference? That's why we say a true home-field advantage, really in my opinion, only works in football because the advantage is you can't hear. And cadence is everything in the NFL. Getting off the ball to get sacks, blocking people in the run game, it's everything. And when you can't hear, it's a huge challenge.
"I loved how we responded in New Orleans. It gives me some confidence going into it. I didn't think we did the best in Baltimore, and that was a real test. Going into New Orleans the next week, our guys knew how hard it was in Baltimore, and those guys were locked into it all week, and I thought we did not let it overwhelm us in New Orleans."
Shanahan added: "Now going into Seattle, it's going to be the exact same. It will be just like New Orleans; you won't be able to hear anything. Hopefully, we can handle it the same way, but that is a big deal, and I think our guys will be ready for it, though."
You can watch the entire interview with Shanahan below.