Gratuitous militaristic analogy aside, it's true.

We have some players and fans and coaches that are better than some of their players and fans and coaches.

But, as it stands; they played in the NFC Championship 2 years ago. And in the Super Bowl a couple months ago.

This part IS debatable: Heading into the draft, they have fewer glaring holes and greater assets to address their needs with than we do. Still, I'm going to go ahead and assume we Seahawks fans would unanimously and gladly swap all our draft picks for all of theirs without hesitation.

With their draft capital, they stand a great chance of adding a top wide receiver or two, a D-Lineman to spell/complement and eventually replace J Smith and a backup to Gore in the first two rounds ALONE.

How will we Seahawks keep pace?

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"Some people here have been groomed to accept mediocrity and lame ducks, I'm on board with the vibrato!" -SouthSoundHawk

Sadly, we are relying on them to both miss with some of their picks, and to not even be able to use all of their picks.

They have the capital to move wherever they want, and target both players and positions.

The good news? They cant keep all their players and all their picks.

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SEAHAWKS.NET. We All We Got, We All We Need

We've got Russell Wilson and a coach the players actually love even when they're not winning. Get Bevell to be dangerous and aggressive for 60 minutes every game, and frankly, the 49ers aren't going to beat us with 5 1st-round picks.

(Also, BFS, it has actually been zero months since the 49ers played in the Super Bowl. It's still February. )

I think you could make a legit argument the Seahawks at the end of last year were a better team than us. Just from the eye test and the result in Qwest, it's just that their game in ATL didn't bounce their way like ours did.

So with that said, this may not be so much the Niners pulling ahead as it is pulling even(or maybe slightly ahead depending on how they use the picks).

If the Niners can use some of these picks for maybe a Revis like has been speculated, even if he is just a rental, then maybe that might put them ahead in the arms race.

As it stands now it'll allow them to add tremendous depth which is what they lacked last year. But that's the only guarantee.

Good Christ, February is a looooooong month when you live in Minnesota and one of your jobs is spent outdoors.

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"Some people here have been groomed to accept mediocrity and lame ducks, I'm on board with the vibrato!" -SouthSoundHawk

Cool. A contrarian post from a Niner fan. I appreciate that.

Re: the above, though, I will argue that it was proven last year that your greatest position of depth was quarterback.

You have now turned that into a question mark.

Which makes me giddy.

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"Some people here have been groomed to accept mediocrity and lame ducks, I'm on board with the vibrato!" -SouthSoundHawk

Games still have to be played regardless of personnel.

The ball is shaped weird and so is Kaps face.

Whereas, ours are not. Faces that is.

As someone who spent a large chunk of his childhood in rural Wisconsin, I wholeheartedly agree. Why are you even in that part of the country? Yuck! You better be getting paid damned good money, or be getting some serious fringe benefits from a hot secretary, or something.

Not many teams have a proven #2, usually that's a luxury. The Niners did lose that luxury, but Harbaugh has had a remarkable track record with QBs. If it came to that point where Kaepernick did get hurt the Niners would be much worse, however still should be able to stay afloat with virtually anybody as the run game and D will still be very good.

*Just as long as Kaepernick doesn't miss chunks of the season, then they're SOL. Same can be said for NE, GB, NO, Denver or Baltimore though.

I think the gap is closer than one may think. I think the maturation process that took place in the second half of last year is proof.

Whichever teams QB best adjusts to the adjustments that the NFL makes against them next year will be the team that wins the division (assuming both teams stay relatively healthy). I'd place my bet on Wilson.

Amazing how adding a 2nd round pick has people all of a sudden thinking the 49ers are unbeatable, when yesterday most of us thought we would be the favorites. Really, I dont think one 2nd round pick is going to be the difference in us or the 49ers winning the division.

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The real killer is the doubling up of selections in the higher rounds this year for the 9ers vs the more lower rounds the Seahawks have. If they play their cards right, they can begin to continually turn over mid-round picks into higher next year picks. Let a few of their FAs walk, such as Goldston which will keep compensatory picks coming in and opt to replace them with younger just as talented replacements. Though nothing replaces experience, talent does make a difference if selected wisely.

The Seahawks do not have enough assets currently to build up such a treasure chest unless they decide to trade this year's #1 and a few other high picks along the way to have more picks in the future in the high end of the draft.

Not sure what else the Seahawks can do to counter the resources built up by the 9ers, other than to build up the team's depth.

What also has to be accounted for is the depth built by the 9ers over the past decade that remains with the team. There are a few high ranked talents on the team due to draft position. Seahawks have gutted most of the pre-2010 talent save for Unger/Bryant/Mebane and a few others. Only #1 pick pre-2010 is Trufant and he is most likely gone.

But that is up to Pete and John to figure it out. Just make it happen son.

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"Pray to the LORD now...Seattle are a bunch of heathen atheist Canadians."
NFL GM: "How do you stop a Seahawk? Take away his doctor's prescription pad."”

What if, hypothetically, that added second rounder allowed them the flexibility and capital to add Revis?

In that case it could be the difference in who wins the division. But in general you're right, for 2014 it likely won't make a major impact. The impact of all the picks will likely be felt farther down the road if they pan out.

I'd be ecstatic if you guys tied up millions of your salary cap in Revis. Cornerback is probably the least important position on the field when matching up against Seattle.

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You say tied up as if Revis isn't one of the 3 best defensive players in the NFL. Seattle isn't the only team on the schedule, and considering DB was probably the weakest area of the niners it'd be very important.

Also, there's no certainty he'd tie up much cap at all other than his number for next year as the Niners could just choose to 'rent' him. though if they went that route, no way the Jets would be getting a pick like #34.

Hmmm. Your first sentence above is either bold conjecture or meant for another thread. Unbeatable? Is that what people are saying? Or are you engaging in hyperbole.

And I imagine this board would be pretty ecstatic if the Seahawks obtained the FIRST pick in the second round.

It's a big deal, especially as close as these two teams are, talent-wise.

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"Some people here have been groomed to accept mediocrity and lame ducks, I'm on board with the vibrato!" -SouthSoundHawk

My post wasnt really intended for you but more for just the vibe of the entire board. Yesterday most thought we were Superbowl favorites, today many are panicing about SF having a new 2nd round pick.

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42-13 (should have been 42-6).

49ers backed into a bye week and lucked into a flu-ridden Packers team. They didn't play any better against Atlanta in the afternoon than we did at 10am. They just caught an extra break or two. They were embarassed in the Super Bowl until the lights went out.

People really need to get a grip. The Niners are the ones hoping to keep pace with Seattle's youth movement and drafting aptitude.

The good news is that Seattle knows how to stop Kaepernick, and every NFL team is going to be studying Seattle this offseason. If the NFL can make the 49ers another 11 win team in 2013, I think Seattle takes the division.

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"I believe there’s merit to the idea that once something in life becomes conventional, it’s no longer the safest path to success." -Matt Waldman
"If everyone's thinking alike, no one's thinking." -Bill Walsh

Please stop making people who enjoy football appear stupid. The only ones who 'need to get a grip' are those like yourself who ASSume people are panicking. The 49ers have outperformed us the last two years (at least). That makes them the pace car. Add to that favorable draft collateral and it begs the question... How will the Seahawks keep pace? Remain within striking distance? Overtake them? It's not a panic mode, Jesus.

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"Some people here have been groomed to accept mediocrity and lame ducks, I'm on board with the vibrato!" -SouthSoundHawk