SAN FRANCISCO — Last October, the 49ers were all alone in first place and already on their way to winning the NFC West title in commanding fashion in coach Jim Harbaugh’s first season.
That’s hardly the case this year as they prepare for their division opener at home tonight against the Seahawks. There’s a three-way tie at the top among the 49ers, Seahawks and Cardinals.
“Everybody in our division got better,” 49ers running back Frank Gore said. “That’s OK, we’re all right with that. We like it like that. We like it tough. We’re tough enough to handle it.”
After riding high for two weeks after consecutive blowout victories against the Jets and Bills, the 49ers (4-2) had little time to figure out all that went wrong in a 26-3 loss Sunday to the Super Bowl champion Giants at Candlestick Park.
These teams — the last two division winners — faced off in Weeks 1 and 16 last year, with the 49ers eliminating the Seahawks from postseason contention with a 19-17 road win on Dec. 24. That was the 49ers’ first win in Seattle since 2008.
And Harbaugh certainly has had his way against Seattle coach Pete Carroll of late, winning the last four meetings dating back to that surprising 55-21 rout by No. 25 Stanford against Carroll’s 11th-ranked Southern California team in 2009.
The Cardinal even attempted a 2-point conversion with the game way out of reach — prompting Carroll’s infamous “What’s your deal?” when the coaching rivals met afterward at midfield.
Any ill will seems long gone for these two.
Carroll believes his Seahawks should be undefeated.
“Because of our lack of effectiveness last year, we stepped up and went about it differently this year,” Carroll said. “Last year by our assessment there were six games that we could’ve won and we didn’t win any of them. This year we have been in five and won three.”
While San Francisco escaped with a narrow win at Seattle in December, the 49ers can find plenty of motivation from that game 10 months later.
Tight end Delanie Walker broke his jaw in two places when he took a knee to the face from Seahawks linebacker Leroy Hill in the first quarter and didn’t return until the NFC championship game.
“We hurt ourselves last week,” Gore said.
The Seahawks gave up a season-high 475 yards in Sunday’s 24-23 victory over the Pats, but their swarming “D” will need a better effort to slow down Gore, Alex Smith, and Vernon Davis.