Thursday Night Football Week 13: TV Schedule, Live Stream for Seahawks vs. 49ers

An NFC West rivalry is the final course on Thanksgiving Day as the Seattle Seahawks take on the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara on the Week 13 edition of Sunday Night Football.

Feel free to call it one of the most important games of the season, too. Both teams rest at 7-4 and look up to the 9-2 Arizona Cardinals in the division. The loser Thursday in what figures to be a ground-heavy contest suffers a serious setback until the two meet again in Week 15.

Fans know exactly what to expect when these two collide. But just like the traditional courses that line the table during this holiday season, predictable is certainly not always a bad thing.

Game Info

When: Thursday, November 27, 8:30 p.m. ET

Where: Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, California

Watch: NBC

Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra

Betting Info: (via Odds Shark)

• Over/Under: 40
• Spread: San Francisco (-1)

Storylines to Watch

Alternate Rushers 

When fans think of this pair of rivals, they think of smashmouth football led by Marshawn Lynch and Frank Gore. 

Lynch is still the lead man in Seattle and has 852 rushing yards and nine scores so far. Unlike Seattle, though, San Francisco tried to be a pass-first team earlier in the season to disastrous results, hence Gore only having 684 yards and two scores to date.

What may change Thursday's game entirely is the rushing ability of the quarterbacks, though—especially in the face of elite defenses.

Colin Kaepernick has completed 61.7 percent of his passes this year and has 2,615 yards and 15 scores to six picks, but he is quite deadly on the ground when he escapes the pocket. He has just 336 rushing yards this season, but the propensity for a big day against a stingy Seattle defense is certainly a reality.

That goes double for Russell Wilson.

Wilson has 2,230 yards and 14 touchdowns to five picks this year, but he does perhaps his most critical damage to defenses with his legs. A total of 644 yards and four scores on the ground can attest to that, but so do words from 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, per ESPN's Paul Gutierrez:

When Wilson's offense struggles—which is certainly a thing considering he leads the 30th-ranked passing attack—he simply gets it done on the ground. To date, he has three outings with more than 100 rushing yards, two of which have given his team wins.

So while it is key to keep an eye on the old horses in the backfield, keep in mind that less traditional quarterback rushes may be on the docket for Thursday night in order to confuse defenders and open up things elsewhere.

Finishing the Deal

Perhaps no team has quietly suffered more when it comes to finishing games than the 49ers.

In fact, the 49ers have mustered just 33 points in the fourth quarter this season, good for the lowest total in the NFL. Chicago, Arizona and St. Louis all outscored the 49ers in the final frames of contests this season to upend Kaepernick and Co.

Kaepernick certainly gets a large portion of the blame. Look at it this way—Blaine Gabbert has led as many scoring drives in the fourth quarter this season as the starter.

One team that has no issues in the fourth quarter? Seattle, of course, as the numbers show.

Despite this, Wilson understands that the trend will be put to the utmost test on short notice Thursday on the road.

"It's going to be a tough crowd, first time playing in that stadium," said Wilson, per STATS LLC, via ESPN.com. "We're going to have to play great football. Play lights out, that's it."

Like any great encounter between these two, expect things to come down to the wire. One side appears to have a serious advantage if the game trends in that direction, but now is as good of a time as any for role reversals to occur.

Note: Stats courtesy of NFL.com. All advanced metrics via Pro Football Focus (subscription required).