{"id":8710943,"date":"2023-01-10T05:40:05","date_gmt":"2023-01-10T13:40:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/?p=8710943&preview=true&preview_id=8710943"},"modified":"2023-01-10T07:17:19","modified_gmt":"2023-01-10T15:17:19","slug":"kurtenbach-the-49ers-are-better-than-cliches-old-adages-and-the-rival-seahawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/2023\/01\/10\/kurtenbach-the-49ers-are-better-than-cliches-old-adages-and-the-rival-seahawks\/","title":{"rendered":"Kurtenbach: The 49ers are better than clich\u00e9s, old adages, and the rival Seahawks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fortune favored the ethical on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Instead of listening to this columnist and treating<\/a> Week 18 like a bye week, deliberately falling to the No. 3 seed as to avoid a possible matchup with Aaron Rodgers, the 49ers played Sunday’s regular-season finale with the clear intention of winning.<\/p>\n

They did, easily<\/a>, earning the NFC’s No. 2 seed in the process.<\/p>\n

Their reward: home-field advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs and a first-round game not against red-hot Rodgers and the Packers (they lost their win-and-in game Sunday night), but instead the arch-rival Seahawks, who squeezed<\/a> into the playoffs after the Packers’ loss.<\/p>\n

Doing the right thing paid off for San Francisco. The Niners should roll over Seattle in their first-round playoff game on Saturday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium.<\/p>\n

Heading into this Niners game against the Seahawks, you are certain to hear the old, tired NFL adage that the hardest thing to do in the league is beat a team three times in one season.<\/p>\n

Folks will point to last season, when the 49ers failed to go 3-0 against the Rams by losing<\/a> in the NFC Championship Game.<\/p>\n

But the truth is that the adage is nonsense.<\/p>\n