Cincy Jungle staff picks for ‘Thursday Night Football’ and open thread

Thursday Night Football will feature playoff atmosphere football between the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks. These are the two teams at the top of the NFC West, and this game should go a long way in deciding this division.

Seattle has to be the most surprising team this season. After they traded away Russell Wilson in the offseason, it seemed like this team that was teetering on a downward spiral would fall face flat at the basement of the NFL. Their quarterback perspectives were Geno Smith and Drew Lock, and they were openly mocked for them supporting the idea that they were comfortable with one of them as their starter. It turns out they were right.

Smith is having one of the best seasons of any quarterback. He has 25 touchdowns and only eight interceptions, all while completing just over 71% of his passes. He has truly found a home with the Seahawks offense.

The 49ers were enjoying a resurgence after Jimmy Garoppolo replaced Trey Lance early in the season, but then Garoppolo went down two weeks ago. Since then Brock Purdy had a great game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in his first start ever. Now you have to wonder if this team can ride that momentum and potentially shut the door on the NFC West.

Here is who our staff is taking. Check out the odds for this one courtesy of our friends at DraftKings Sportsbook. This is also tonight’s open thread, so come join the fun!