The Worksheet, a fantasy football overview by Rich Hribar, breaking down everything you need to know for the Week 17  San Francisco 49ers vs Seattle Seahawks Sunday Night Football game on December 29, 2019 at 8:20 pm ET.
San FranciscoRank@SeattleRank
-3Spread3
25Implied Total22
30.22Points/Gm25.69
19.38Points All./Gm24.821
64.312Plays/Gm6510
59.85Opp. Plays/Gm64.418
49.2%2Rush%46.3%5
50.8%31Pass%53.7%28
41.4%18Opp. Rush %37.7%5
58.6%15Opp. Pass %62.3%28

Playoff Impact: The winner of this game wins the NFC West. For the 49ers, a win also would make them the No. 1 seed in the NFC while a loss would drop them to the No. 5 seed.  Seattle has an outside shot at the No. 1 seed if they win and both the Saints and Packers lose. 

 

Quarterback

  • Russell Wilson: Wilson has been a QB1 in just three of his past 11 games while he’s been the QB16 or lower in seven of those games. He and Seattle are entering this matchup without his left tack Duane Brown and a new running back rotation. With all of those moving parts last week, Wilson threw for a season-low 5.5 yards per pass attempt against an Arizona defense we had been targeting all season for passing production. Wilson had 6.8 yards per pass attempt when these teams played in Week 10, but was able to add 53 rushing yards to his totals (16.6 points). The 49ers have allowed a top-12 scoring quarterback in each of their past four games while they rank 28th in rushing points allowed (3.5 per game) to quarterbacks.
  • Jimmy Garoppolo: Garoppolo has had one of the wider gaps from ceiling to floor this season. When he’s hit, it’s been big, with four games as the QB6 or higher and 22-plus points in each of those games. When he’s missed, he’s missed low, with nine games as the QB19 or lower with 13 or fewer points. After Garoppolo’s massive Week 14 versus the Saints, he’s come back as the QB24 (12.6 points) and QB25 (10.4). Seattle hasn’t allowed a QB1 since Week 9 and haven’t allowed more than two touchdown passes in any game this season.

Running back

  • Raheem Mostert: With the entire San Francisco backfield intact the past three weeks, Mostert has led the team with 38 touches, while Matt Breida has 13 and Tevin Coleman 12. Mostert hasn’t eclipsed 15 touches in any of those three games, but he has scored in all of them and has reached the end zone in five straight. Seattle has allowed 166.7 yards from scrimmage per game to backfields over the past three weeks with 118.7 rushing yards (4.9 YPC) per game and six rushing touchdowns.
  • SEA RBs: Losing both Chris Carson and C.J. Prosise for the season last week, Seattle was forced to turn to rookie Travis Homer, who tallied 11 touches for 42 yards in relief. Adding ghosts of Seattle past in Robert Turbin and Marshawn Lynch this week, Seattle will enter Week 17 with a hodgepodge of a committee. Lynch is 33 years old and hasn’t played an NFL game since Week 6 of last season while the 30-year old Turbin also hasn’t played in an NFL game since Week 6 of 2018. San Francisco has allowed 71.2 rushing yards per game (3.6 YPC) over their past five games to the Packers, Ravens, Saints, Falcons, and Rams backfields.

Wide receiver

  • 49ers WRs: Deebo Samuel has been a top-30 scorer in six of his past seven games, but his volume and raw output have slowed down. Over his past five games, Samuel has 23 targets (16.7%), catching 14 of those targets for 227 yards and two touchdowns. He’s started to get more use in the rushing game, carrying the ball in each of the past four games (7-89-1). Emmanuel Sanders has been a bit more volatile than Samuel. Since joining the 49ers, Sanders has had two top-10 scoring weeks, but also has had six other weeks at WR49 or lower. After catching 7-of-9 targets for 157 yards and a score in Week 14, Sanders has managed to secure 5-of-10 targets for 70 yards combined over the past two weeks. 49ers wideouts caught 14 passes for 178 yards and a score in Week 10 versus Seattle (with Samuel having 8-112) but George Kittle was inactive for that game, while Sanders only played 29% of the snaps. The Seahawks have allowed five touchdowns to opposing wideouts over the past four games. 
  • Seahawks WRs: In a game where Seattle lost two running backs and trailed throughout, their entire wide receiving corps somehow only managed to catch three passes for 56 yards last week on 14 targets. D.K. Metcalf hasn’t posted a top-30 scoring week since Week 9 and has just two catches on five targets the past two weeks. Tyler Lockett has bounced back in terms of volume with nine and eight targets the past two games, but has been a top-50 scorer in just one of his past six games played. Lockett has managed lines of 3-26-0, 2-45-0, and 1-52-1 over his past three games versus San Francisco. The 49ers have allowed multiple touchdowns to opposing wideouts in each of their past three games, while allowing top-10 scoring weeks to Michael Thomas (11-134-1), Julio Jones (13-134-2), and Robert Woods (8-117) over that span. Neither Seattle wideout is running as hot as those pass catchers, but Seattle should have to throw more than usual given the state of their backfield.

Tight end

  • George Kittle: Kittle is averaging 18.5 points per game over his five games since returning from injury, catching five or more passes in all of those games outside of the rain-soaked game against Baltimore. He missed Week 10 versus Seattle, but the Seahawks have been a tight end target for us this season. Seattle is 29th in receptions (6.0) and 31st in yardage (67.5) allowed per game to opposing tight ends.
  • Jacob Hollister: Hollister had a season-high 64 yards last week and received six targets (19.4%) with Luke Willson returning to the lineup, who did not receive a target. Hollister was targeted a season-high 10 times when these teams played in Week 10 (8-62-1) while the 49ers have allowed a TE1 scorer in four of their past six games, with five touchdowns allowed to the position over that span.

More Week 17 Fantasy breakdowns from The Worksheet:

GB at DET | ATL at TB | MIA at NE | CHI at MIN | NO at CAR | CLE at CIN | LAC at KC | NYJ at BUF | PHI at NYG | PIT at BAL | OAK at DEN | IND at JAX | TEN at HOU | ARI at LAR | WAS at DAL | SF at SEA