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The sting of last season has remained with Geno Smith and the Seattle Seahawks ahead of Thursday’s Thanksgiving matchup against the San Francisco 49ers.
Not only were the Seahawks eliminated by their divisional rivals in the first-round of the playoffs, but they were also swept in their two regular season matchups. And none of the games were particularly close as Seattle was outscored 89-43 over the three meetings.
The streak of defeats is very front of mind for Smith and the rest of Seattle’s squad.
“Obviously they beat us three times last year, and to me that’s unacceptable,” Smith said via ESPN’s Brady Henderson.
If the Seahawks are going to beat the 49ers, the conditions certainly aren’t ideal. They are playing on a short week with Smith and running back Kenneth Walker III getting injured in Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Coach Pete Carroll still believes that Smith will be able to suit up Thursday night despite the signal caller dealing with a triceps contusion on his right arm that continues to make him uncomfortable.
As for Walker, he’s been listed as doubtful with a strained oblique.
It also appears that the 49ers appear to be back. Following a three-game losing streak, San Francisco blew out a talented Jacksonville Jaguars squad last Sunday, looking much more like the team that was considered to be the NFL’s best over the first few weeks of the season.
However, with an improved defensive unit, Carroll believes his team matches up much better with San Francisco now than it did last year.
“Yeah, I like where we are,” Carroll said. “I like where we are and what we’ve done coverage-wise and system-wise. This team really does check you out. They’ll check out your scheme. So we give them a lot of credit and have a lot of respect for them. But I feel like we’re much farther along than we were.”
The 49ers are favored by 7.5 points going into the matchup. If that line holds, it’ll be the most that an away team has been favored by at Lumen Field since the Rams in Week 5 of the 2018 season (+7.5).
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