The Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers square off on Saturday night in a heavyweight bout that will determine who the NFC will run through. While both the Seahawks and 49ers have had similar success on the road and at home this season, in the playoffs that advantage becomes all the more critical.
For the 49ers, they hope never to have to leave Santa Clara through the Super Bowl, and for the Seahawks and their “12’s,” they hope to be backed by one of the rowdiest atmospheres in the NFL.
Every Seahawks Super Bowl run has featured Seattle having homefield advantage in the NFC Championship game. The crowd has historically been an advantage for the Seahawks in the playoffs, with a 12-3 record in Seattle dating back to 1983, when they played in the Kingdome. One player who is keenly aware of the Seahawks’ home advantage is 49ers star tight end George Kittle.
Bring the Noise
George Kittle is no stranger to playing in Seattle, with this being his ninth season in the NFC West rivalry with the Seahawks. Kittle is a big-game player, and he’s grown to love the atmosphere the Seahawks fans bring to the game.
On Thursday, while being interviewed at his locker, Kittle discussed how he embraces what Seahawks fans bring to the game and encouraged them to bring the noise.
“Seattle is one of my favorite stadiums because they hate us, and it’s always twice as loud as any other stadium I ever play in. It’s just a great atmosphere and I love their hatred for us and hopefully the Faithful will bring it this weekend for them,” Kittle said.
In Kittles’ case, fortunately for him the game is in Levi’s Stadium and not Lumen Field, but the 49ers will still have their work cut out for them. Still, with the way the offense, particularly quarterback Brock Purdy, has been rolling the last few weeks, the team feels confident in its chances.
Ceasing the Moment
While some players will downplay this as just the next game on the schedule, it’s much more than that. This is a chance for both teams to control their own destiny in the playoffs and avoid travel this late in the season.
One Seahawks player who discussed the enormity of the game was Seahawks safety Julian Love postgame of the Seahawks’ 27-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers last Sunday. Seahawks.com provides the transcript of Love’s response to the magnitude of the game.
“It’s exciting. If you take a step back, it’s a big game next week, and I’ve never been in this position before,” Love said. “You’ve got to love it. You have to approach this next week with love in your heart and gratitude of—we’re in a position to punch our ticket in a great way. I think the whole team is fired up. We’re excited, and we know that the other team across the ball is going to be trying to do the same thing. It’s just these moments man [that] we just want to cease. I haven’t had too many of these moments in my career so I’m ready to take it.”
So much is on the line for the Seahawks and the 49ers, and both teams will do whatever it takes to make sure they gain the homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.
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