The Seahawks are coming off a confidence-building 28-0 home win over the Rams. The offensive line played well, the defense notched a shutout, and other than the injury to Leroy Hill there was good news all around. But ahead of them lurks a dangerous 49ers team, themselves coming off an impressive win over the defending NFC champs.

The 49ers offense hopes to run the ball and work the clock with short passes. They aren’t trying to score 40 points; the top priority is avoiding catastrophic mistakes. Isaac Bruce and Frank Gore have killed the Seahawks in the past, but the ‘Hawks defense will be able to contain those two if they can bring pressure on QB Shaun Hill. It would be easy to overlook this team because of the no-name starter at QB, but the defense is a completely different story.

Both starting cornerbacks present real difficulties for the Seahawks. Nate Clements isn’t sneaking up on anyone. Most QB’s prefer to stay away from the veteran CB; he has been one of the top 5 cover corners in the league for several years now.

It’s also a hassle for WR’s to block running plays to his side. Fans might overlook Shawntae Spencer, unless they saw last week’s game where he was a key to the 9er’s gameplan, shutting down the Cardinal’s elite WR combination. Spencer has played so well that ‘Dre Bly is the team’s third cornerback, giving the 9ers great depth. With two picks already this season, Matt Hasselbeck must be more careful with the ball around these three than he was last week.

Also look out for pass rushing DE Jeff Smith and OLB’s Manny Lawson and Parys Haralson. This crew hit Kurt Warner hard, much to the delight of Seahawk fans. The Seahawks offensive line played well against St. Louis, but they did not face a pass rush like this one.

Most of all Seattle must gameplan to keep MLB Patrick Willis from shutting down their running attack. He is going to make plays, but Greg Knapp has to find some way to minimize his impact on the game. It’s doubtful that Willis will allow plays like Julius Jones’ long TD run last week. Remember also that all of the members of this defense have Samurai Mike Singletary in their ears, the linebackers in particular. Never underestimate the wacky genius factor with Singletary.

All of the key matchups here will be on the line. Can TE John Carlson and Hasselbeck exploit one-on one match-ups with safeties and linebackers? More importantly, it seems like Walter Jones and Chris Spencer will miss another game at least. Walter might play, but he wouldn’t be 100%.

Last week Hasselbeck went nearly untouched and the O-Line earned accolades. They will have to show some consistency against a superior defensive team like the 49ers. This will be a great test to see how effective the offensive unit as a whole can be against a higher level of competition.