One reason I'm a little concerned about this Sunday's game is the fact that it's a road game. The 49ers are 1-4 on the road, with their only road win coming over Arizona the first week of the season in a performance that surprised a few folks. Throw in the fact that the game is a division rivalry and in an always loud Qwest Field, and it certainly will keep me on edge for most of the game.
I took a quick look at the 49ers home and road DVOA numbers (courtesy of Football Outsiders' premium content) and came across a few interesting pieces of information. Here's a breakdown of their offensive and defensive DVOAs at home and on the road.
Offense
| Total DVOA | Rk | Home DVOA | Rk | Road DVOA | Rk |
| -10.0% | 21 | -16.0% | 29 | -2.4% | 17 |
Defense
| Total DVOA | Rk | Home DVOA | Rk | Road DVOA | Rk |
| -7.6% | 7 | -12.7% | 2 | -3.0% | 13 |
I'm a bit surprised by the road offensive numbers. The team has faced a relatively higher level of competition on the road than at home (not too denigrate some of the home opponents). These stats are certainly not all inclusive (for instance, not showing the development of the numbers over the course of the season), but I still find the offensive performances interesting.
After the jump, a quick look at the 49ers' road schedule to date...
The 49ers road games have been a rather bizarre amalgamation of games. The 49ers of course beat the Cardinals 20-16 in the season opener, a game which many folks have quickly written off as a random occurrence that can best be described as an early season anomaly. We'll see next week if that's the case. But the rest of their road games, all losses, were all rather tough games to stomach:
Week 2: 27-24 loss at Minnesota
Week 7: 24-21 loss at Houston
Week 8: 18-14 loss at Indianapolis
Week 11: 30-24 loss at Green Bay
Some will argue about the Houston and Green Bay games involved the team being down big, but in both games they made things interesting, so they certainly weren't blowouts. And considering they battled Minnesota and Indy legitimately to the wire, I can overlook the early lapses in Houston and GB. Anyways, if you throw in a 4 point win at Arizona, we could be looking at another nail-biter. Seattle hasn't been playing at the level of the 49ers previous road opponents, but divisional road games are always tough.