As the Arizona Cardinals fell to the Landry Jones-led Pittsburgh Steelers, the San Francisco 49ers knew they had an opportunity to take a step forward in the NFC West division when hosting a struggling Baltimore Ravens team. The Niners took the opportunity and ran with it, holding serve at home with a 25-20 victory at Levi's Stadium.
It was San Francisco's first win since the opening game of the season against the Minnesota Vikings, snapping a four-game losing streak. In the first half, former Raven Torrey Smith caught a 76-yard touchdown from Colin Kaepernick as the Niners went to the break with a 10-point lead. In the second half, Quinton Patton caught his first career NFL touchdown pass from Kaepernick, who finished 16-for-27 with 340 yards and two touchdowns.
The Ravens scored a touchdown with five minutes left to cut the lead to five and had a chance to march down the field and win the game, but Joe Flacco's long throw for a hail mary was broken up as time expired to move the Niners to 2-4.
At 2-4, the Niners and Seattle Seahawks will head into their primetime Thursday Night Football matchup with the same record. While Sundays provide a bit more of an opportunity to tailgate, fans will still be amped up for this NFC West rivalry game. Even with the weather turning, 49ers-branded tailgate gear, cornhole boards, and grill equipment will be abundant prior to kickoff, and for those looking to gear up, Tailgate Giant is the go-to one-stop tailgate shop.
The Seahawks are coming off back-to-back disappointing losses in which their opponents marched down the field and scored on their supposedly stout defense in the final moments of the game. Two weeks ago, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton engineered a drive that resulted in a game-winning field goal and Cam Newton found Greg Olsen in the end zone with seconds remaining this past Sunday at CenturyLink Field.
These two teams have had plenty of high-intensity contests in recent years and have played at the highest level, where the winners have moved on to play in Super Bowls. It should be another heavy-hitting game between the two clubs that are trying to chase down the Cardinals, who sit at 4-2 atop the NFC West division.
The Niners defense at home is performing significantly better at Levi's Stadium when compared to road games, which should make this a tighter contest than on paper. The Niners defense averages 13.3 points allowed per game at home, allowing three points to the Minnesota Vikings, 17 points to Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers and most recently, 20 points to the Baltimore Ravens.
