This should be a very interesting football game this Sunday.  The Niners are only 1-4 on the road while the Seahawks are 3-2 at home this year.  The Niners won in September against the Seahawks 23-10 in San Fran.  The Niners still think that they can win the NFC West as they play the Cardinals next weekend but in order for that to happen they will have to take care of business in Seattle this week which will be easier said than done.  The Niners should get back to the running game this weekend as Frank Gore is the best player on the offense and they need to start getting the ball back  into his hands more.  The Seahawks are allowing 110.7 yards rushing and 4.3 yards per carry so far this year so Gore should have some success.  Alex Smith has been playing decent lately and the Seahawks don’t rush the passer that well so he should have time to look downfield to throw the ball.  Josh Morgan and Michael Crabtree could be in store for good games against a Seahawks’ D that is allowing 238.1 yards passing per game this year.  But, TE Vernon Davis is Smith’s favorite target so he will also likely get a lot of work on Sunday.

The Seahawks will likely come out throwing the ball early and often against a Niners’ D that is allowing 238.1 yards passing per game so far this year.  Matt Hasselbeck should have the time to locate his WRs as the 49ers don’t have much of a pass rush.  With that in mind T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Nate Burleson could have great games this weekend.  TE John Carlson should also be successful this weekend working the short stuff over the middle of the field.  Justin Forsett will likely have a hard time finding much running room against the nasty Patrick Willis in the middle of the Niners’ D.

PREDICTION:  SEAHAWKS 27, 49ERS 23

22-year old rookie WR Michael Crabtree is off to a good start to his NFL career.  He held out for the first fix weeks of the season before signing with the 49ers.  He has been thrown right into the fire and the results are promising so far.  Crabtree has played in 6 games for the Niners this season and he has caught 26 passes for 346 yards (13.3 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Look for Crabtree to play even better down the stretch for the Niners as they are in the middle of a playoff run.

The 49ers have lost 24-year old rookie free safety Curtis Taylor for the season with a hip injury.  Taylor had 4 tackles in his rookie  season for the Niners.  He was a 7th round pick out of LSU so not a lot was expected of him but he made the team so it was a good pick.