Seahawks at 49ers in Playoffs: 'Simpler' This Time, Says Coach - 'No Tricks!'

“You don’t trick each other,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan says of the rubber game of the season's match between his team and the Seahawks.

Context is important, so we are careful to note that as the San Francisco 49ers get set to host the Seattle Seahawks for the third time this season - this time in the first round of the playoffs - nobody is saying it's going to be easy.

Or, at least that what we think nobody is saying.

“You don’t trick each other,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said of the rubber game of the season's match between the two NFC West rivals, saying that the preparation is therefore "easier.''

That is not to say that Shanahan thinks beating the Seahawks will be "easy'' when underdog Seattle travels to the Bay Area to face off against their arch rivals on Saturday. ... though the oddsmakers do seem to see it that way.

The 49ers are currently listed as 9.5-point favorites heading into this Wild Card weekend. ... and there are a trio of history lessons that do influence the thinking here.

1 - Our man Corbin K. Smith examines here what the NFL annals say about third-time's-a-charm meetings in a single season. Does this help the Seahawks? Dig in ...

2 - Shanahan and the Niners swept the Seahawks in this year's two-game season series, and the scores are significant. 

The first one was a 27-7 win in Week 2. Can it be argued that coach Pete Carroll's bunch didn't quite have its footing then?

The second meeting resulted in a 21-13 victory for the Niners in Week 15. Does the closer score mean "even closer'' is on the horizon?

3- And then there is this: San Francisco, with a roster recognized as being one of the NFL's deepest (so much so that third-string rookie QB Brock Purdy is making things work), dominated the NFC West with a 13-4 record.

And Seattle? This berth was earned, even as the Seahawks needed Detroit Lions' upset help to achieve it. But the 9-8 record, pleasantly stunning as it is, creates the look of a gap between these two teams.

Maybe, with some preparatory "ease'' and with or without "trickery,'' the Seahawks can close that gap on Saturday.

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