The Seattle Seahawks face a bit of an odd situation in the Divisional round of the playoffs. They will take on the San Francisco 49ers, a team that they just played in their last game. That was in Week 18 when Seattle won 13-3.
To get to take on the Seahawks, the 49ers had to go on the road to beat the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Even though San Francisco lost All-Pro tight end George Kittle during the game to a torn Achilles tendon, the 49ers were able to come from behind and defeat Philly.
Wasting no time after the game to comment on the next one, feisty San Fran wide receiver Jauan Jennings made sure his feelings were clear in taking on Seattle at Lumen Field. If the 49ers want to get to the Super Bowl, well...
49ers' Jauan Jennings might regret what he said about facing the Seattle Seahawks
"Let's go. I can't wait," Jennings said. "That's who we wanted."
To be fair, should the 49ers beat the Seahawks, Jennings might say the same thing in the next game, but he also might be getting ahead of himself. While the 49ers defeated the Seahawks way back in Week 1, the Week 18 matchup was more of a mismatch. The score was closer than the game. Except for a couple of missed Jason Myers field goals, Seattle would have won by two touchdowns.
In that game, Jennings led his team in receiving yards, but with only 35 yards. San Francisco gained only 173 total yards.
The 49ers were missing left tackle Trent Williams and wide receiver Ricky Pearsall against the Seahawks (the team has missed All-Pros Fred Warner and Nick Bosa for much of the season, too), but Seattle was missing its own left tackle, Charles Cross, and one starting safety, Coby Bryant.
In the Divisional round, the loss of Kittle might be as big as the 49ers missing Williams and Pearsall combined. It is many times easier for a team to succeed during the game a player gets injured than the next game when the opponent has more time to game-plan.
Should the Seattle Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional round at Lumen Field and move on to play either the Chicago Bears or Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship game? Absolutely. Quarterback Sam Darnold needs to play a clean game, and the defense needs to be brilliant, but both of those things could certainly happen.
Jauan Jennings is getting his supposed wish. He wanted to play the Seahawks. He might regret his words come Sunday morning.