Seattle Seahawks
Dec 14, 2014; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks safety Jeron Johnson (23), linebacker Brock Croyle (52) and linebacker Mike Morgan (57) celebrate against the San Francisco 49ers at CenturyLink Field. The Seahawks defeated the 49ers 17-7. Reuters

The Seattle Seahawks turned to their defence in the second half of the NFL Sunday Night Game versus San Francisco 49ers to notch a hard-earned 17-7 victory and eliminate their rivals from playoff contention this season. Seattle’s quarterback Russell Wilson threw 168 passing yards (12-of-24 completions) and added 27 rushing yards (5 carries) with two touchdowns to lead the Seahawks to their tenth win in 14 games or more importantly, tied for fifth spot in the conference for one of the wildcard spots in the NFC.

San Francisco played well in the first half leading 7-3 at the break. But they got shut down in the second half as the Seahwawks grabbed the lead with a Marshawn Lynch rushing touchdown late in the third quarter. Lynch finished with 91 yards in 21 carries while Jermaine Kearse (78 yards on 5 receptions) and Doug Baldwin (53 yards on 3 receptions) also had good games.

San Francisco’s quarterback Colin Kaepernick finished 11-of-19 for 141 yards while running back Frank Gore was limited to 29 yards on 11 carries with the lone touchdown for the 49ers. San Francisco will miss the playoffs after reaching the NFC title games the past three seasons.

"I don't care about that stuff right now," Seattle coach Pete Carroll said via ESPN when queried about home-field chances as the regular season winds down. "We have two more games to play and we have one more game that's at hand right now. That's all we got. The rest of it doesn't matter."

The Seahawks, which have won their fourth straight game, are now tied with the Green Bay Packers (10-4) and a game ahead of the Philadelphia Eagles (9-5) as the three teams battle for two WC slots with two games remaining each. Seattle takes on the Arizona Cardinals (11-3) and St. Louis Rams (6-8), Philly faces the Washington Redskins (3-11) and New York Giants (5-9) while Green Bay finishes the regular season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-12) and Detroit Lions (10-4). San Francisco, which has lost three consecutive games to bow out of the postseason race, still has games against the San Diego Chargers and Cardinals.

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