The San Francisco 49ers visited the Seattle Seahawks in Week 16 action on Sunday, as both teams were in pursuit of a win with postseason implications. For the Seahawks, they needed the win to keep their hopes for a playoff berth alive. For the 49ers, they are still in search of a first-round bye and prime postseason seed. In the end, the 49ers would rely once again on strong defense and a talented kicker to twice come from behind and pick up the 19-17 victory.
The 49ers fell behind early on a Doug Baldwin touchdown pass in the first quarter and were down 10-3 entering halftime. Head coach Tim Harbaugh must have fired up the squad during the half, as the team took the field and immediately drove to score their first and ultimately only touchdown of the game on a Frank Gore run. The rest of the game belonged to special teams.
Kicker David Akers has now set records in back-to-back weeks. On Monday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he broke the 49ers franchise record for most points scored in a season, previously held by Jerry Rice. This week, he had Neil Rackers in his sights. He tied the single-season NFL record for most field goals with his 40th of the year in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, he broke the record and made it his own with this field goal:
Akers would later add yet another fourth-quarter field goals, extending both records in the process. In all, Akers was responsible for 13 of the 19 points scored by the 49ers, which is nothing new this season, but still impressive. His four field goals were from 53, 29, 44 and 39 yards, in order.
Another big win for the 49ers this week, although they lost two of their big 2011 bragging points. Entering the game, they had allowed neither a rushing touchdown or a 100-yard rushing game by a single player all season. Marshawn Lynch obliterated both of those marks in the fourth quarter. He first scored on a 4-yard touchdown run which at the time put the Seahawks on top by a score of 17-16. Following that, he picked up the requisite yards needed to cross the 100-yard threshold. He finished the game with 107 yards on 21 carries.
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