I wasn't quite sure how to word the title, so I'll just cut to the chase here: Do the 49ers HAVE to beat Seattle this weekend to get any value out of the week 1 road victory against the Arizona Cardinals? It's hard to make such a black and white argument of course. A win is always valuable, no matter what happens the following week. At the same time, one has to wonder what kind of momentum would be lost by a home loss to the Seahawk.
Obviously two games do not decide the season. Or at least, the first two games of the season. The NFC West is a notoriously weak division (just ask Bill Simmons this week), so one might argue two wins over NFC West opponents don't mean a lot. Of course, I think most of us agree that is BS. Any win is an important win and starting out 2-0 in the division would be a big plus for the team.
In the end, a win over the Seahawks means people start talking up the 49ers (even if it's a tight, ugly contest like last week's game). A loss to the Seahawks and I think all that momentum from last week is lost. Obviously I'm not declaring it a lost season (that would be ridiculous), but it definitely hurts things. If you want to be in the playoff hunt, you have to be winning your home games. And as a member of the NFC West you have to at least be winning your home divisional games.
This post is more meant to open this to discussion than anything else. It's a pretty simply question. Do the 49ers have to win this week to validate their win last week?