Seattle Seahawks vs. 49ers Week 13: Five bold predictions

49ers run and 49ers win

The 49ers run for 240 yards

As mentioned on the previous page, the 49ers are going to try to run a lot. But San Francisco uses a wide-zone running scheme that works well against most teams. Seattle is stout on runs up the middle but struggles out wide. The 49ers are not going to simply pound the ball between the tackles all day. This is not how they run the ball.

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan must be salivating at this game at this time. His running backs are mostly healthy. Elijah Mitchell has been on a roll lately and has gotten 27 carries each in his last two games. He missed Week 11 against the Jaguars. The Seahawks gave up 143 yards rushing in Week 4 even though the 49ers were without most of their productive backs.

Mitchell will have 140 yards rushing in Week 13 but San Francisco will have 240 yards total and keep any Seattle pass rush away from Jimmy Garoppolo.

Seattle scores 10 points in the first quarter but loses 28-13

One more and this ties into the final score: San Francisco keeps the ball for 43 minutes to Seattle’s 17. I didn’t add this as a bold prediction because, sadly, a bold prediction in 2021 as far as time of possession goes would be predicting Seattle keeps the ball for half the game.

The Seahawks will give false hope to 12s everywhere with a good start in Week 13. But by late in the second half, 12s will have forgotten about the first quarter.

In the last three games for the 49ers, though, they have averaged keeping the ball for 38:10 of the game. Seattle has held the ball for 24:09 in their last three. So, this game will go as most Seattle games have gone this year, except for one thing. Seattle is 17th in the NFL in points scored in the first quarter at 3.7. On Sunday, Seattle will score 10. But the defense will be wiped out again in the second half as San Francisco dominates time of possession and Seattle’s offense is awful.