San Francisco @ Seattle preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 22, 2015 ) Seattle 20, San Francisco 3

It was not long ago that the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers were the class of not only the NFC West but the entire NFC, and a late-November meeting between the teams would be a battle for the top of the division. Instead, the Seahawks will just be trying to climb to .500 when they host the last-place 49ers on Sunday.

San Francisco’s massive roster and coaching staff turnover in the last year has not yielded great results on the field, and the team is last in the NFL in scoring at an average of 14 points. The 49ers managed to give the fans something about which to be optimistic with a 17-16 victory over the Atlanta Falcons prior to last week’s open date, and quarterback Blaine Gabbert will make his second straight start Sunday. Gabbert is not going up against a Seahawks' defense quite as ferocious as the one that took the club to back-to-back Super Bowls, and that unit was shredded for 451 yards last week in a 39-32 home loss to the Arizona Cardinals. “The pressure is going to be on the defense every time we play,” safety Earl Thomas told reporters after the loss. “We understand that and have to hold up."

TV: 4:25 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Seahawks -13. O/U: 40

ABOUT THE 49ERS (3-6): San Francisco was 1-6 against Seattle with Colin Kaepernick under center, and Gabbert did just enough with two touchdowns and two interceptions against the Falcons to earn his first shot at the Seahawks' defense. “I like what Blaine did,” 49ers coach Jim Tomsula told reporters. “I like where he’s at and we’re going to continue with Blaine.” Gabbert could be getting some weapons back this week with wide receiver Anquan Boldin (hamstring) and running back Carlos Hyde (foot) limited participants in practice this week.

ABOUT THE SEAHAWKS (4-5): Seattle likely squandered any chance of winning another division title when it fell into a 19-0 hole and failed to dig its way out against the Cardinals last week, but a wild-card spot remains a possibility if the defense can turn things around. The Seahawks are 0-5 this season when allowing 25 points or more, and were ripped for a total of 66 in their last two home games. “This is a real important week for us to bounce and come back to playing football like we like,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll told reporters. “We’re really disappointed in the way we went out last week, as we started that thing we were off. So it’s really important to us to get this thing going and have a good week of work.”

EXTRA POINTS

1. Seahawks DE Bruce Irvin (knee) has been ruled out of the game.

2. The 49ers dropped a 20-3 decision at home to the Seahawks in Week 7.

3. Seattle TE Jimmy Graham has not caught a TD pass since Week 3 and has two on the season after totaling 26 in his last two years with New Orleans.

PREDICTION: Seahawks 24, 49ers 10