Seattle Seahawks (+9-1/2) at San Francisco 49ers: The Niners won both meetings against their NFC West rivals in the regular season while utilizing three different quarterbacks. In Week 2, the 49ers supposed franchise quarterback Trey Lance suffered a season-ending ankle injury, giving way to one-time franchise QB Jimmy Garoppolo in a 27-7 win. Garoppolo then suffered a broken foot in their Week 13 win against the Miami Dolphins, which meant rookie Brock Purdy was given the keys to the car the rest of the way. While Purdy has been solid in five starts (5-0, 13 touchdowns and 4 INTs), he hasn't had to be the magic as the 49ers sported the NFL's top ranked defense in yards allowed and points surrendered.
In what was thought to be a rebuilding year after trading away franchise quarterback QB Russell Wilson, the Seahawks found a hidden gem at QB in veteran Geno Smith (teams wrote him off, but he "ain't write back"). Smith threw for more than 4,000 yards and 30 TDs in leading the Hawks to a 9-8 record.
The key in this game will be Niners RB Christian McCaffrey against a Seattle defense which was ranked 30th against the run. McCaffrey gained nearly 140 all purpose yards in San Francisco's week 15 win. Given the heavy rain northern California will endure through this weekend, it bodes well for the Niners' style of play on both sides of the ball.
San Francisco 24 Seattle 10
Los Angeles Chargers (-2-1/2) at Jacksonville Jaguars: Two of the brightest young stars at quarterback will be featured in this game as Chargers QB Justin Herbert (third year) and Jags QB Trevor Lawrence (second year) will be making their postseason debuts.
In Week 3, the Jaguars went into L.A. and pummeled the Chargers 38-10 on the strength of three Lawrence touchdown passes. While I believe Lawrence will get his this game, rookie running back Travis Etienne, who ran for 1,125 yards in the regular season, has a chance to have a monster game against a Chargers defense who allowed a league worst 5.4 yards per carry.
If all that isn't bad enough for L.A., they will be without their top WR Mike Williams, who suffered a back injury in the regular season finale. The obvious question after last week was why was Williams even playing given the Chargers were locked in at the #5 seed in the AFC, win or lose? If indeed the Chargers go one-and-done this postseason, coach Brandon Staley may be on the hot seat. And if Staley is given a pink slip, he'll find a job in no time given he was the Defensive Coordinator for the the 2020 L.A. Rams, which boasted the NFL's top ranked unit in points and yards allowed. As luck would have it, my Minnesota Vikings may well be in the market for a D.C. after this season. That potential vacancy would be a good fit since the Rams' Offensive Coordinator in 2020, Kevin O' Connell, is the current head coach for the Vikes.
But I digress.
Jacksonville 27 Los Angeles 21
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