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THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: Seahawks, 49ers not suitable for prime time this time

| December 5, 2021 1:30 AM

Word has it the Seahawks are going to trot out Adrian Peterson, 36, the aging future Hall of Famer, to solve their running game woes today when the 49ers visit.

Imagine their surprise when the San Francisco/Santa Clara squad trots out Jerry Rice, 59, with his lower-back support but without Brett Favre, to replace the injured Deebo Samuel at wide receiver -- and possibly at running back.

OK, maybe not.

The Seahawks and 49ers began the season with their usual Super Bowl aspirations, but their campaigns have evolved into a bit of a head-scratcher.

SEATTLE FANS, as usual, placed their trust in Genius Coach Pete Carroll and The Great Russell Wilson to bring home a world championship for the first time since the Legion of Boom delivered one to the Pacific Northwest eight seasons ago.

But Wilson, the apparent Uninjurable One, got injured and missed a few games, and while he's back, the Seahawks sit at 3-8 and are coming off a loss last week in the first game of what TGRW said would be a 7-0 finish.

TGRW is taking some heat for this season's losing ways -- criticism which would have been almost blasphemous in previous seasons. Similarly, some are suggesting the game has passed GCPC by, and that Carroll, for all the great things he's done in Seattle over the past decade, might be best suited for the Old Coaches' Home these days.

Funny, these are rumblings that have trickled out elsewhere in the country for several years -- but are only beginning to surface recently in Seattle.

Ah, fandom.

Even Bobby Wagner, the all-pro linebacker and now 31, is having some fingers pointed his way.

(Not from this corner -- we still wouldn't want any of our loved ones running across the middle against this man.)

MEANWHILE, 49ERS fans, who saw their heroes devastated by injuries last season, figured if the squad could simply do the proverbial "stay healthy," San Francisco could replicate its 2019 season which ended with a trip to the Super Bowl.

Well, that hasn't happened.

Their best running back got hurt in the first game and is out for the season. Their trustworthy but immobile and somewhat inaccurate QB missed one game, their best linebacker has missed time due to injury.

And now their best player, Samuel, is out. That he's being used as a running back, too, means either coach Kyle Shananhan is a genius (that word again) for finding another way to get his best player the ball -- or an admission the 6-5 49ers aren't doing a very good job getting him the ball by throwing it to him.

Or both.

On defense, Nick Bosa (one of the 2020 injureds), is doing a tremendous job fighting through endless uncalled holding penalties to put pressure on the quarterback.

Unfortunately, he's not getting much help.

The defensive backs, healthy or not, are just good enough to get you beat by good quarterbacks. If you throw it to them, they can make a play, but if not, it's usually a big gainer -- either via the catch or on a pass interference penalty.

This matchup was deemed so unappealing by the network suits for a national audience that it was "flexed" out of its original spot tonight on Sunday Night Football -- replaced by a game involving the Broncos.

Two seasons ago, the 49ers posted a rare win over the Seahawks in a Sunday night thriller in Seattle after Genius Coach butchered the final minute with the Seahawks one yard from victory.

USING THE dreaded "if the season ended today" criteria, though, the 49ers are in the playoffs, and the Seahawks likely have to win out to even have a shot.

Recent history suggests that the Seahawks, despite this year's troubles, should be able to win today because, well, they usually beat the 49ers. Seattle has won 14 of the last 16 meetings with San Francisco, including earlier this season in Santa Clara.

Even with Bosa chasing after him, TGRW should be able to be able to run around and find his two star receivers roaming unbothered in the 49ers secondary.

If that's the case, it shouldn't matter if Adrian Peterson or DeeJay Dallas or Claude Dallas or E.J. the D.J., or even Edgerrin James or Franco Harris, is running the ball for the Seahawks.

The 49ers will try to run the ball and control the clock, to lessen the chance of the inevitable forward pass being tipped and intercepted. But we'll see how that works when the Seahawks put eight, or nine, or 10, or all 11 in the box, and dare San Francisco to beat them through the air.

If Seattle can't get it done today, relatively healthy and in front of its noisy home fans, maybe the Seahawk fans were right -- maybe a few years later than everybody else, but still right.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.