Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/224151
Sports 2B Weekend December 7-8, 2013 NFL | Seahawks at 49ers, 1:25 p.m. Sunday on FOX 49ers hope to prove they belong in mix SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A December matchup between fierce rivals that only months ago looked to be a for-sure NFC West championship decider has instead become San Francisco's chance to show it still belongs in the playoff mix. Period. If the two-time reigning division champion 49ers (8-4) can't beat the Seahawks (11-1) at home Sunday, they will certainly have a far more daunting task of trying to beat them in Seattle if the teams meet again in the NFC playoffs. "If this doesn't fire you up, if this doesn't fire up the fans, then what does?" 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said. "I suppose Abraham Lincoln riding across the field with a frock and a top hat, riding a horse, waving an American flag. I doubt that would fire them up, if this game doesn't fire them up. The people that really love football would be fired up by this matchup." Seattle clinched the NFL's first playoff berth with a rout of New Orleans on Monday night, and could wrap up the West and first-round bye with a win at Candlestick Park. The Seahawks are thinking far beyond the rivalry, or that a team that reached the last Super Bowl is on the other side. "Well, we've been in the midst of these for a long time," coach Pete Carroll said. "We've looked at every game like it's a championship opportunity for us, and we've continued to see and feel it that way." Here are five things to watch Sunday in Seattle's final visit to Candlestick Park: SAN FRANCISCO'S 12TH MAN: The 49ers are calling for a "red out" this weekend, as in all fans wear red. Anything to help boost the energy at Candlestick for a game of this magnitude. Sure, the Niners would love to establish a homefield advantage similar to what Seattle has. "I would hope for that this week, that Candlestick, we get it cranked up," Harbaugh said. "Make it a real great environment, because it'll be a great football game." Not that Seattle isn't accustomed to noise. The Seahawks' own home games help them prepare — and on Sunday they will try for a franchise-best sixth road victory. "Our crowd is sensational," quarterback Russell Wilson said. "They're so loud every week. So, yeah, I think it definitely does. We're not afraid to go on the road and play in a tough environment." BRAGGING RIGHTS IN THE WEST: Sure, Seattle has owned this series of late, outscoring the 49ers 71-16 in the past two meetings, both at home. Yet that hardly matters with the high stakes on this one. "It's a new game, another Sunday," 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis said. "We've talked about it the last couple of weeks that every game we play from here on it out is important. It's important to where we go to get into the playoffs. ... Once we get in, then I feel like anything can happen." The Seahawks don't doubt it. They have had a good view of the Niners' success the past two years Tehama Tracker Monday's schedule BOYS SOCCER Corning at Chico, 3:15 p.m. GIRLS SOCCER Corning at Chico, 3:15 p.m. Sports on TV Saturday BOXING 5 p.m. SHO — Champion Sakio Bika (32-5-2) vs. Anthony Dirrell (26-0-0), for WBC super middleweight title; Erislandy Lara (18-1-2) vs. Austin Trout (26-1-0), for vacant WBA interim super welterweight title; champion Devon Alexander (25-1-0) vs. Shawn Porter (22-0-1), for IBF welterweight title; welterweights, Zab Judah (42-8-0) vs. Paulie Malignaggi (32-5-0), at Brooklyn, N.Y. 6:45 p.m. HBO — Middleweights, Matthew Macklin (29-5-0) vs. Lamar Russ (14-0-0); junior middleweights, Glen Tapia (20-0-0) vs. James Kirkland (31-1-0); champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (12-0-0) vs. Joseph Agbeko (29-4-0), for WBA/WBO super bantamweight titles, at Atlantic City, N.J. COLLEGE FOOTBALL 9 a.m. ABC — National coverage, Oklahoma at Oklahoma St. ESPN — UCF at SMU ESPN2 — Conference USA, championship game, Marshal at Rice 12:30 p.m. FOX — Texas at Baylor 1 p.m. CBS — Southeastern Conference, championship, Auburn vs. Missouri, at Atlanta 4:30 p.m. ESPN2 — South Florida at Rutgers 4:45 p.m. ESPN — Pac-12 Conference, championship game, Stanford at Arizona St. 5 p.m. FOX — Big Ten Conference, championship, Ohio St. vs. Michigan St., at Indianapolis 5:07 p.m. ABC — Atlantic Coast Conference, championship, Duke vs. Florida St., at Charlotte, N.C. 7 p.m. CBS — Mountain West Conference, championship, Utah St. at Fresno St. GOLF 10 a.m. TGC — PGA Tour, World Challenge, third round, at Thousand Oaks, Calif. Noon NBC — PGA Tour, World Challenge, third round, at Thousand Oaks, Calif. 9 p.m. TGC — European PGA Tour, Hong Kong Open, final round 1 a.m. TGC — Nedbank Challenge, final round, at Sun City, South Africa MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL 8 a.m. FSN — La Salle vs. Stony Brook, at New York 9 a.m. FS1 — Colgate at Georgetown 9:30 a.m. CBS — National coverage, UCLA at Missouri 10:30 a.m. FSN — Fordham at St. John's 11 a.m. FS1 — Bowling Green at Xavier 12:15 p.m. ESPN2 — Kansas at Colorado 1 p.m. FS1 — Fla. Gulf Coast at FIU 2:15 p.m. ESPN2 — UNLV at Arizona 3 p.m. FS1 — North Dakota at Butler MEN'S COLLEGE HOCKEY 3:30 p.m. NBCSN — UMass at Notre Dame NBA BASKETBALL 5 p.m. WGN — Detroit at Chicago SOCCER 6:55 a.m. NBCSN — Premier League, Manchester City at Southampton 9:25 a.m. NBCSN — Premier League, Tottenham at Sunderland 1 p.m. ESPN — MLS Cup, Real Salt Lake at Kansas City WINTER SPORTS 11 a.m. NBC — USSA, Birds of Prey, at Avon, Colo. (same-day tape) Sunday COLLEGE FOOTBALL 6 p.m. ESPN — Bowl Selection Show, at Bristol, Conn. FIGURE SKATING 9 a.m. NBC — ISU, Grand Prix Final, at Fukuoka, Japan (same-day tape) GOLF 10 a.m. TGC — PGA Tour, World Challenge, final round, at Thousand Oaks, Calif. Noon NBC — PGA Tour, World Challenge, final round, at Thousand Oaks, Calif. MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL 10 a.m. FSN — Oklahoma vs. George Mason, at Washington 12:30 p.m. FSN — George Washington vs. Maryland, at Washington 3 p.m. FS1 — Nebraska at Creighton NFL FOOTBALL 10 a.m. CBS — Regional coverage FOX — Regional coverage, doubleheader 1 p.m. CBS — Regional coverage 1:25 p.m. FOX — Regional coverage, doubleheader game 5 p.m. NBC — Carolina at New Orleans SOCCER 5:25 a.m. NBCSN — Premier League, Aston Villa at Fulham 7:55 a.m. NBCSN — Premier League, Everton at Arsenal WINTER SPORTS 11 a.m. NBC — USSA, Birds of Prey, at Avon, Colo. (same-day tape) Noon NBCSN — USSA, Birds of Prey, at Avon, Colo. WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL 1 p.m. FS1 — Duke at Oklahoma Monday MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL 5 p.m. FS1 — Manchester at Butler NFL FOOTBALL 5:25 p.m. ESPN — Dallas at Chicago NHL HOCKEY 4:30 p.m. NBCSN — Columbus at Pittsburgh SOCCER 11:55 a.m. NBCSN — Premier League, Hull City at Swansea City AP photo San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) passes as St. Louis Rams defensive end Chris Long (91) applies pressure during the second quarter of an NFL football game in San Francisco, Sunday, Dec. 1. since Harbaugh came aboard. "They've been winning for a long time. That just makes it that much more of a challenge and difficult to get," Carroll said. "We're going for it with everything we've got this week." THE DECEMBER STRETCH: Carroll just chuckles at the idea that, as well as Seattle has played, people are concerned about the Seahawks peaking too soon to sustain this level of success. "I'm glad people are concerned about that; we've been trying to manage a steady ascent in our play, our execution," he said. "This is fourth quarter of the season, this is when you finish it off and set yourself up for postseason. We certainly haven't gotten to the point we think we've got it made, we've got 'em now." WILSON DRAWS PRAISE: Harbaugh doesn't have enough good things to say about Wilson, and the 49ers coach has one of football's talented young quarterbacks himself. "He's a little bit quicker than some defensive linemen, I guess," defensive end Justin Smith said of Wilson. "I'm one of them." That MVP talk for Wilson, 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio calls it "legitimate." "He's a fantastic player. A wonderful, wonderful player, competitor," Harbaugh said. "Skills of arm talent, mobility. Great field awareness. Understands the scrambling lanes, the escape routes out of the pocket. A lot of wonderful qualities about him." SEATTLE SECONDARY: With a healthy receiving corps at last, the 49ers hope they have enough options to keep that trash-talking, big-play Seattle secondary guessing. Might it be Anquan Boldin, Vernon Davis, Mario Manningham or Michael Crabtree who Colin Kaepernick looks for downfield? "Obviously the passing game was really on this last weekend," Carroll said. With Crabtree back for his second game since returning from May right Achilles tendon surgery, Kaepernick feels good about his options. And, perhaps, about quieting Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and the rest of the defensive backs. "I think you have to earn that every Sunday," Kaepernick said of the confident chatter. "And this Sunday we're going to make them earn that." Raiders, Jets dealing with similar struggles EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Young quarterbacks. Late-season struggles. Fading playoff hopes. The Oakland Raiders and New York Jets have a few things in common, including insisting that there's still plenty more to accomplish — postseason or not. "The season is what it is right now," Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes said. "We all wish for peaches and creams every day and having Christmas every day around here, but we have to deal with what we have right now. "That's right now, (an) up and down season, and we have to finish these last four games on a good roll." After setting an NFL record by alternating wins in their first 10 games, it has been all losses for the Jets (57). They're on a three-game skid that has seen them go from controlling their playoff destiny to being barely alive. Geno Smith remains New York's starting quarterback after being benched last week, but New York needs to see drastic improvement from the rookie who has just one touchdown pass and 11 interceptions in his last seven games. "I think he has it in him," coach Rex Ryan said. "I don't think there's a doubt that he has it in him. We'll find out soon enough." The Raiders (4-8), who have lost two in a row and four of five, are also getting a chance to see what they might have in their own rookie quarterback, Matt McGloin. The former Penn State starter will make his fourth straight start in place of the injured Terrelle Pryor, who also has Oakland wondering if he's the franchise's quarterback of the future. "I think we have two quarterbacks that are distinctively different," coach Dennis Allen said, "yet two young guys that have a lot of potential." McGloin has looked mostly solid in his two previous road starts, throwing for 452 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. But on Thanksgiving in Dallas, McGloin threw an interception in the end zone with just under nine minutes left that led to a long scoring drive for the Cowboys. "I definitely have a long way to go," McGloin said. "Made some mistakes in the three starts. I can't make the critical error that I made last week." Here are five things to watch for when the Raiders and Jets square off: EAST COAST SWING: The Raiders have lost 12 straight games in the Eastern time zone since beating Pittsburgh in December 2009. They have been outscored 377-198 in those games, but came close both times this year while losing 21-17 in the season opener at Indianapolis and 24-20 to the Giants last month. "I think our routine is going to be pretty standard as far as what we do and how we prepare," Allen said of playing at MetLife Stadium again. "Obviously, we didn't have the results there last time that we were looking for." STRUGGLING SMITH: Despite being replaced at halftime by Matt Simms, Smith is getting an opportunity to work his way out of an ugly stretch. He last threw a touchdown pass on Oct. 20 against New England, and hasn't completed more than nine passes in a game since having 20 at Cincinnati on Oct. 27. Smith's 23 turnovers lead the NFL. "I definitely feel a sense of urgency," Smith said. "I've got to go out there and play hard and I've got to get the job done. I've been saying that every week. Nothing's changed. That's the way I play every single week." RUNNING RAIDERS: Oakland ranks second in the AFC with 133.1 yards rushing per game, led by Rashad Jennings, who is averaging 89.6 yards in his last five games. Jennings ran for a career-best two touchdowns last week, but a concussion left his status uncertain. Oftinjured Darren McFadden has an ankle injury, and thirdstringer Jeremy Stewart is dealing with ankle and knee injuries. So the Jets could actually see cornerback Taiwan Jones, a converted running back, at times in the Raiders' backfield. REX ON HOT SEAT: Less than a month ago, some fans and media were calling for the Jets to give Ryan a contract extension. Now, amid a losing streak, there are real questions about Ryan's job security, especially if he misses the postseason for a third straight year. "No, I don't pull my hair out, it's still gray," a joking Ryan said when asked if he's worried that he's coaching for his job. "No, in all seriousness, I've always said it, no chance. I don't think one day about it, I don't. I just think about the opportunity that's right in front of me." SCORING EARLY: Oakland gets off to quick starts and then struggles to get back on the scoreboard — or keep opponents off it. The Raiders are second in the league at plus-45 points in the first quarter of games, but 31st in the final three quarters at minus-108. They are also last in the league at minus-55 in the fourth quarter, and were tied or within seven points heading into the last quarter in six of their eight losses.