The champion-caliber 2013 Seahawks expect to dethrone the NFC West-winning, and Super Bowl-representative 49ers from 2012.
Question is, how do they do it?
Pete Carroll’s Seahawks are one of the most complete teams in all of football.
They’re stout defensively, own a dominant running game and are led by a premier dual-threat quarterback in Russell Wilson. Boasting a frightful home-field advantage in the confines of Pacific Northwest Seattle merely serves as another solidifying element.
But the Seahawks are a relative mirror image of the very team they’re trying to overthrow.
The 49ers also feature a top-three defense, league-leading rushing attack and a thoroughly dynamic quarterback in Colin Kaepernick that’s even a step above his Seattle counterpart, at least athletically if nothing else.
So, what gives?
An added receiver, a lost receiver and a head coach rivalry that transcends the game itself?
Well, perhaps not the latter hyperbole, but the Seahawks adding Percy Harvin and the 49ers losing Michael Crabtree certainly adds a new wrinkle to the fold.
Let’s break down the top-three ways in which the Seahawks can supplant the 49ers as NFC West champs.
Subtract Crabtree, Add Harvin
San Francisco is without its leading wideout until December. Crabtree tore his right Achilles tendon during OTA’s and subsequently created a big hole in the 49ers’ receiving corps.
Seattle, meanwhile, upgraded its offensive attack with a player that changes the course of the game whenever he hits the field.
It’s no joke—Harvin brings otherworldly speed, agility and a game-breaking prowess.
The former Minnesota Viking will provide Wilson with the ideal versatile weapon in which to utilize out of the read-option. He’ll stretch the 49ers’ defense to the sidelines when lining up in the backfield, while simultaneously posing as a downfield threat on any given play.
In other words, Harvin is the perfect antidote to the sideline-to-sideline coverage linebackers and downhill safeties for San Francisco.
He can serve as the winning element to this closely matched affair.
Trust in Beast Mode
Marshawn Lynch ran roughshod over a usually impenetrable 49ers defense.
“Beast Mode” exceeded the 100-yard plateau in both matchups, piling up 214 yards and one touchdown on 45 carries. That equates to a healthy 4.8-yard average for those doing the math.
The 49ers were clearly too susceptible to his bruising nature.
Wilson must establish the read-option fake to the outside so Lynch can expose the defense up the middle. This ground-n-pound trickery will set up deep play-action passes as a beneficial byproduct.
It’s no easy task, but certainly an achievable one based on historical results.
Early Schedule Advantage
The 49ers have the unfortunate luck of facing five straight playoff-worthy opponents at the start of the season.
They at the very least could enter Week 3 without a win following conceivable losses to Green Bay, St. Louis and Houston.
Compounding that scenario for the archenemy is Seattle’s golden opportunity.
The Seahawks can easily sandwich two wins against the Jaguars and a beatable Panthers team, while capitalizing on home-field advantage over the 49ers in Week 2. A 3-0 record versus the 0-3 varietal is surely a way to take a stranglehold of the division.
Defying expectations is what the NFL does best. That said, the Seahawks are sitting quite comfortably with their opening schedule.
San Francisco has been put on notice.
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