Thanksgiving night open thread: 49ers at Seahawks

Thanksgiving Day is closed out with a battle of two NFC West teams with eyes on the playoffs.

Have you had your fill of turkey yet? I hope you have not had your fill of NFL football, since we have one more game to cap off the night.

The San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks face off in an NFC West showdown, two teams looking primed for a playoff push. The question is which team will sit atop the division come January and which team will have to make the gauntlet that is the Wild Card. The 49ers (7-3) have the slight edge over the Seahawks (6-4), but the scales could very much tip tonight.

San Francisco had an ugly three-game losing skid entering their bye week, but they have since rebounded by stomping the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in recent weeks. Brock Purdy, in particular, has been stellar of late with back-to-back three touchdown games. George Kittle has shaken off early season sleepers and looks like the elite tight end yet again, Christian McCaffrey is a weekly touchdown threat, and Brandon Aiyuk is on pace for the best season of his career—the San Francisco offense lives up to its top offensive DVOA spot.

Seattle is trying to find its footing and identity. They have had some excellent games (versus the Detroit Lions, for one), but they have fallen flat in others. They have lost two of their last three games, the most recent of which was a last-minute defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams thanks to a missed field goal. With Kenneth Walker banged up, the offense won’t be at full strength, so it could come down to Geno Smith and rookie Zach Charbonnet to make some plays.

Here’s how to watch tonight’s game:

Date: Thursday, November 23, 2023
Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
Location: Lumen Field—Seattle, WA
TV: NBC
Announcers: Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, and Melissa Stark
Online: NBCSports.com