Everyone is making their predictions for Sunday night's NFC West showdown between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks. With the division and playoff seeding on the line, games don't come much bigger than this Week 17 matchup.

NFL insider Adam Schefter of ESPN joined KNBR on Thursday and, of course, was asked to predict an outcome for the upcoming game.


"I think San Francisco is the better team," Schefter said. "I think Seattle is beaten up right now. But I come back to this: Do they get that little emotional boost that they need from (signing) Marshawn Lynch?

"The thing about Seattle is, interestingly enough, as tough a venue as it is to play in Seattle, the Seahawks are even better on the road this year than they have been at home. They've been a tougher road team than they have been at home. I honestly don't know (which I would pick). To me, it's a coin-flip kind of matchup.

"If San Francisco plays its best game, the 49ers win the game. If they don't turn over the football, they play the way (they can), they're going to win the game. I don't know if they're going to do that. They don't know if they're going to do that, right?"

One area the 49ers will need to improve is their pass rush, which has struggled to disrupt opposing quarterbacks as regularly as it did earlier in the season. Schefter was asked to share his thoughts on the reduction in productivity. Is it a result of injuries, the long season, or teams figuring out how to slow down the defensive line?

"I think maybe all of them," Schefter responded. "How about that? You can't lose a guy like Dee Ford and not have it affect your lineup. You're going through every game, and people see what you're doing.


"And there have been times when they haven't been playing with the lead. If you don't have a big lead, it's tough to basically have the pass rush unleashed the way that they've been able to do often this season. I just think it's a combination of factors here as to why the rush has not been good.

"Look, they need that to pick up here. They need it Sunday night in Seattle. They're going to need it in the postseason, and if they can get that, then maybe the 49ers have a chance to be as great as they've been through a large part of this season."

You can listen to the entire conversation with Schefter below.



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