Pro Football Week 13 Picks: Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers
Thursday, 11/27/14, 8:30 PM EST
Opening Point Spread: San Francisco -2
Current Betting Line: San Francisco -1.5
Opening Total: 41
Current Total: 40.5
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker

Cardinals vs. 49ers NFL Preview — San Francisco RB Frank Gore is primed for a big performance Thursday night

Seattle has won four of its last five games, including a 19-3 victory over the Arizona Cardinals as 7.5-point home favorites last week, while going UNDER the betting total for the first time in four contests. The Seahawks are tied with the 49ers for second place in the NFC West division standings, which can’t be ignored when making your Week 13 pro football picks, as they both are looking to overcome a two-game deficit. It’s important to point out that the home team has won the last 11 meetings in this series. Seattle is 6-4 SU and 9-1 ATS as underdogs the last two-plus seasons, with no clear edge in terms of the betting total (5-5 Over/Under).

The Seahawks are surrendering a league-low 296.8 yards per game, which is important to consider when looking over the pro football odds, as they still have one of the best secondaries in the league led by cornerback Richard Sherman. He’ll need to play at a high level against San Francisco’s talented receiver group, with that group being paced by Anquan Boldin in recent weeks. The team has managed to force just 15 turnovers to this point, which is a long way from its NFL-leading 26 in that category through 11 games of its championship season a year ago.

San Francisco has won three games in a row for the second time, as it comes off a 17-13 victory over the Washington Redskins as nine-point home favorites last week, while going UNDER the betting total in consecutive contests. The 49ers need a major performance from dual-threat signal-caller Colin Kaepernick, who has fallen in defeat in two of his three regular-season meetings in this series. San Francisco is 2-0 SU and 1-1 ATS as home favorites of three or fewer points the last two-plus seasons.

The 49ers will need to establish the run with veteran Frank Gore, who has averaged 114.2 yards on the ground when featured on Thursday Night broadcasts in his career—the highest such number of any player with four or more games in that situation. San Francisco will need to score some points in the fourth quarter to beat one of the best teams in the league, but that has proven problematic through 11 games—putting up a league-low 33 points in the final 15 minutes.