The San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks have developed enough of a rivalry over the years that every game has at least some meaning. Even with both teams struggling this season, there is still something to be had from beating a division rival.
However, Sunday's game is going to have even more meaning for NaVorro Bowman. The 49ers star linebacker is playing his first game in Seattle since tearing his ACL and MCL in the January 2014 NFC Championship Game at CenturyLink Field.
Bowman talked about the meaning of this game on Friday, and he recalls much of what happened. He said he will go to the spot of the injury at some point in pre-game warmups, but more importantly, he remembers a lot of what went down following the injury. The most notable was the scene none of us will forget of Bowman being carted down a tunnel, and popcorn being thrown from the stands on him.
Bowman spoke about that in Matt Maiocco's video above. If you can't view the video, Bowman had this to say:
I remember that, it's been with me for a while. No matter who gets hurt, you want to make sure they get back up on their feet, show some sign of respect, and I don't think the Seahawks fans did that at all. You can't keep a good man down, is basically my message to them.
The 49ers face a huge challenge in this game, but it is safe to say Bo will be just a little fired up for this one. Who knows if it will be enough to carry this team to victory, but it is safe to say he'll be giving everything he's got. And over the course of nine games, I think we've seen improvement from Bowman. His performance against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 9 was his best game of the year, as he seemed to have an extra gear. Coming off the bye week, maybe we see that extra gear again on Sunday against Seattle.