Week 7

I've watched Baltimore this season and Ray looks old. I love Ray Lewis, who doesn'tt....but, honestly, Ray is showing his age. While he is still a great inspirational leader and can still make plays, I don't think his absence on the field is going to be as great as you might think. In fact, I think the absence of Brian Cushing will have a much greater impact in this game. Houston's success this year has much more to do with making stops, defensively, and we saw the liability of the Texans against Green Bay without the presence of Cushing.

I'm not looking at this game as a divisional rivalry. I'm simply looking at it as another divisional game in which I'm not laying more than a posession. Even though these teams are divisional foes, there isn't much of a rivalry between them. In fact, we have more of a history between the two coaches dating back to Stanford and USC than anything else and if we're capping this game based on emotional influences, I'll definitely back Harbaugh over Caroll without hesitation. Seattle has been a great story this season and I like the rookie, Wilson. However, San Francisco has been a tough venue for Seattle over the past couple of seasons as Seattle has dropped it's last 3 games against SF. In Seattle's last two games at San Francisco, Lynch has rushed for only 63 yds on 23 carries. They droppred the last contest 33-17 as a 6 point dog. Moving forward to this year, we have seen how well Seattle has played against the Cowboys, Packers, Panthers and Patriots but none of these teams have balanced rushing/passing offenses while SF has the best rushing offense in the league, averaging 176 rushing yds/gm. I believe SF's rushing game will open up playaction for Davis and Crabtree and of course, we know Moss is still a deep threat in which we'll probably see tonight. While Seattle is 2nd against the rush, they've played less than stellar offensive lines in the league. The 49ers are the best rushing team for a reason as they have a huge load up front which will handle Seattle at the line of scrimmage. To note, the 49ers are 4-0 coming off a loss in the Harbaugh era. Harbaugh would love to beat Caroll by 50 but a 27-13 game seems a little more realistic.

I've watched Baltimore this season and Ray looks old. I love Ray Lewis, who doesn'tt....but, honestly, Ray is showing his age. While he is still a great inspirational leader and can still make plays, I don't think his absence on the field is going to be as great as you might think. In fact, I think the absence of Brian Cushing will have a much greater impact in this game. Houston's success this year has much more to do with making stops, defensively, and we saw the liability of the Texans against Green Bay without the presence of Cushing.