The San Francisco 49ers are looking for their first win at CenturyLink Field since Week 1 of the 2011 season. It's a division rivalry that's largely been one-sided in recent memory.
San Francisco hopes to end that streak on Sunday as they travel north to face the Seattle Seahawks. Eric Reid, in particular, knows his first win in the Pacific Northwest has been long overdue.
"We don't like them, and I'm sure they don't like us. That's just the nature of this sport," Reid said. "We both want to win; we both need to win."
Undergoing a multitude of changes over the last year, there's no exact blueprint on what to expect from San Francisco. Even Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll acknowledged that the outcomes from previous matchups have no bearing on the 49ers capabilities now. From front office personnel, to the coaching staff and down to the roster, Seattle is facing a brand new 49ers team.
Even players familiar to Seattle, like Reid, are being used in new capacities.
Since Robert Saleh has implemented a Seattle-esque 4-3 defense, Reid has been moved to a role not so dissimilar from Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor. The fifth-year safety now finds himself primarily in the box while still having the ability to patrol the deep middle of the field on occasion. Reid has studied his Seahawks counterpart in order to acclimate himself to the new role.
"I never really studied their defense before this year," Reid said. "But a lot of times I wouldn't focus on it because we wouldn't run cover three. But this year during training camp I was able to watch it and pick up on the way Kam has played and (Seahawks safety) Earl (Thomas) plays in the post."
Containing three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Russell Wilson remains priority No. 1 when going against Seattle's offense. Despite their biannual meetings, Wilson continues to present challenges for San Francisco's defense.
The Seahawks are 8-2 against the 49ers since Wilson entered the league in 2012. Five of those meetings have been decided by double digits, and two have resulted in 20-plus point margins.
The challenge for the 49ers is that Wilson, at least to some degree, knows what's coming on Sunday. Since Saleh's system is a derivative of what Carroll has implemented in Seattle, Wilson practices against a similar scheme on a daily basis.
"Russell probably knows the defense even better than anyone in the league," Reid said. "He's been practicing against it for six years. He knows the problems that we have with the defense, and I'm sure he'll be looking to capitalize off of that."
The Seahwks offense is looking to rebound from a subpar performance in Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers. In the 17-9 loss, Seattle was kept out of the end zone, and Wilson was limited to just 158 yards passing.
There's a lot riding on Sunday's matchup. More important than ending the winless streak in Seattle is getting the first win under Kyle Shanahan.
"We're both 0-1, and somebody is going to be 0-2," Reid added. "I don't want it to be us."
