Thursday Night Football: Seahawks at 49ers
When the NFL schedule was announced months ago this looked like a dud, but that's not the case now. Tonight's game features two of the NFL's elite defenses as the 4-2 Seattle Seahawks take on the 4-2 San Francisco 49ers for control of the NFC West.
Key to the game should be who wins the battle of the trenches. The 49ers have the league's number one rushing offense (177 yards per game and 6.0 yards per carry both rank 1st in the NFL) while Seattle has one of, if not the best run defense (70 yards per game and 3.3 yards per carry both rank second in the NFL).
Last week Seattle had a mild upset at home with a one-point come from behind victory over the Patriots while the 49ers were crushed by the Giants at Candlestick Park by a score of 26-3.
As of Tuesday the Seahawks were still talking about the Patriots game while the 49ers had moved on by Sunday night. For Seattle much of Wednesday was lost due to their having to travel, leaving them with almost no time to prepare either physically or emotionally. On the other hand I see the 49ers coming in to this game with a huge chip on their shoulder after last week's loss and delivering a big statement - and a third division loss to the Seahawks.
Three units on the 49ers -6½
One unit on under 37½
final score: 49ers 13, Seahawks 6
This Day In Patriots History
October 18, 1949:
Mike "Superfoot" Walker was born in Lancaster, England
Walker won a radio show contest to become the Pats kicker in 1972, replacing an injured Charlie Gogolak. Walker made all 15 PATs but was just 2-8 on field goal tries in his one and only NFL season.
October 18, 1952:
Andy Johnson was born in Athens, Georgia
Johnson was the only Patriot player to ever catch a touchdown pass and run for a touchdown pass on his birthday. In 1981 the running back completed seven of his nine pass attempts for 194 yards and four touchdowns - good for a 118.7 passer rating.
October 18, 1963:
Gino Cappelletti scores 20 points in 40-21 win over Denver at Fenway Park. Cappelletti caught a 24 yard touchdown pass, kicked field goals from 24, 34, 42 and 32 yards, and also kicked two extra points in the victory.
October 18, 1976:
Andy Johnson catches one touchdown pass and runs for another TD while Steve Grogan runs a fumble in six yards for a touchdown, scores another TD on a 41-yard run, and finishes with 103 yards rushing as the Pats crush the Jets 41-7. The Pats ran for a whopping 330 yards on the day with four different players rushing for at least 50 yards each.
October 18, 1981:
Steve Grogan runs for a 24-yard touchdown on a naked bootleg as the Pats get a bit of revenge on the team that eliminated them from the playoffs three years earlier, cruising to a 38-10 win over the Houston Oilers. The Pats picked off four Ken Stabler passes and ran for 244 yards on the day for the upset victory at Schaefer Stadium. Unfortunately it was the last win that year for the Patriots as they lost nine in a row to finish 2-14 in Ron Erhardt's final season as the team's head coach.
October 18, 1987:
Andre Tippett led the Pats to a 21-7 win over Houston at the Astrodome. The future Hall of Famer had 14 tackles, three sacks, and blocked a field goal in the 4th quarter that was returned by Raymond Clayborn for a touchdown; he was later named the AFC Defensive Player Of The Week for his effort in the game.
October 18, 2009:
Randy Moss caught two touchdown passes within a minute of each other and then Wes Welker caught two touchdown passes within two minutes of each other as the Patriots demolish the Tennessee Titans in the snow 59-0. The Pats led 45-0 at halftime and finished with a total of 619 yards of offense on the day.
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October 18, 1926:
Chuck Berry was born in St. Louis
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