SAN FRANCISCO – Easy?
Anyone think this stuff is easy?
Beating the San Francisco 49ers might not be the most difficult task in the world – heck, six out of seven opponents have done it this season – but doing it twice in a row is no piece of cake.
So when the Seattle Seahawks face the 49ers today in the rematch of a Sept. 26 game that Seattle won 34-0, don’t expect a whole lot of the same.
Exhibit A: The Buffalo-New England rivalry. The Bills hosted New England in the 2003 opener, shellacked Tom Brady and the boys 31-0, and were immediately anointed as a legitimate AFC contender. Sixteen weeks later, the Patriots beat Buffalo 31-0 in the finale, went on to a Super Bowl, and Bills coach Gregg Williams was fired.
Exhibit B: The Cleveland Browns became the talk of the NFL after manhandling the Steelers 33-13 in Pittsburgh last October, but Bill Cowher’s team got a dose of revenge with a 13-6 win over the Browns six weeks later.
Exhibit C: The Detroit Lions looked pretty cowardly in a 31-6 loss at Green Bay during Week 2 of the 2003 season, only to come back and beat the Packers 22-14 at home in Week 13.
The list of examples goes on and on. In fact, it’s so hard to beat a team convincingly two times in one season that it happens less than one would expect.
Just look at last season. There were 16 blowouts (games in which one team outscored the other by more than two touchdowns) in first-time divisional meetings. Seven of the rematches went to the team that had lost the first meeting. Three other rematches went into overtime. Just three times did the winner of the first game beat its opponent by more than two touchdowns again.
Since 1977, only one NFL team shut out another team twice in one season (Atlanta over Carolina in 2002).
So don’t expect the Seahawks to put up another 34-0 pasting.
“In our business, that type of game doesn’t happen often,” Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. “Most games are close games.”
Oddsmakers are being conservative as well, saddling the Seahawks as a respectable-but-not-overwhelming seven-point favorite for today’s game at San Francisco. Everyone seems to believe the Seahawks (4-3) will win, but nobody’s willing to predict another blowout.
“The longer you play, the more you learn that lesson,” Seahawks center Robbie Tobeck said. “But this team has been through enough and has lost some games that we should have won. So we shouldn’t have to worry about that.”
A few factors are working in San Francisco’s favor today, beginning with the return of starting quarterback Tim Rattay. Backup Ken Dorsey has started three games for the 49ers, including the loss at Seattle, and he has an 0-3 record and paltry 53.9 quarterback rating to show for it.
San Francisco (1-6) also has the advantage of knowing what the Seahawks like to do, having played them six weeks ago. That should help the coaches’ game-planning, and it allows players to approach their one-on-one matchups without that sense of the unknown.
Most important of all, Seattle has been hit by the injury bug since the first meeting. Defensive end Grant Wistrom won’t play today due to a knee injury, while punter Tom Rouen and Pro Bowl special teamer Alex Bannister have been placed on injured reserve. Two of Seattle’s top three receivers, Darrell Jackson and Bobby Engram, may also be out due to sprained ankles.
And then there’s revenge, which may be the biggest factor of all in rematches between teams that were involved in a blowout.
“We were embarrassed. That’s one factor,” San Francisco coach Dennis Erickson said last Wednesday in a conference call with Seattle media. “They kicked our rear ends – there’s no ifs, ands or buts about it. They out-coached us, they out-played us, they out-everythinged us. That’s what happened. When you turn the video on and you watch the tapes and see that, it’s pretty obvious.
“We’ve got to coach better, we’ve got to have a better plan, and we’ve got to compete better against that group. Because they beat the heck out of us.”
While the 49ers may have been wringing their hands while watching tape last week, the Seahawks had to be careful not to kick their feet up and expect it to happen again.
“You can’t play down,” said linebacker Anthony Simmons, who will return to the field today after missing two weeks due to shoulder surgery. “You have to go in fired (up). You can’t make mistakes, and you definitely can’t take the game lightly.”
It might be easy to take the 49ers lightly this week.
But drubbing them for a second consecutive time, well, that might not be so easy.
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