San Francisco fans, pundits talk down Seahawks

With so many standing strong behind the Seahawks, it’s easy to forget the 49ers faithful have a much different take on Seattle and Sunday’s game.

There’s been plenty of trash talk, parody songs and prognostications ripping the Seahawks. And if you listen to San Francisco fans and pundits alike, they’re all saying the Seahawks have little chance to make it to the Super Bowl.

Former NFL scout and San Francisco radio host John Middlekauff tells KIRO Radio’s Tom and Curley Show the Seahawks and 49ers have the two best defenses in the league, but San Francisco’s is better. And with the Seahawks relying so much on Marshawn Lynch, the Niners get the edge.

“They’re going to find out there’s no team better suited to stopping him,” he says.

The game features two of the most dynamic and talented young quarterbacks in the game. But while he thinks the world of Russell Wilson, Middlekauff says San Francisco’s Colin Kaepernick is better in every category.

“I mean you’re talking about a guy 6’5, he’s faster than Russell, he’s got a better arm than Russell,” he says.

And although Kaepernick is perceived as brash and arrogant while Wilson is considered humble and harder working, Middlekauff argues the young Niners quarterback is Wilson’s equal.

“In terms of work of ethic or character, I know you guys are not going to believe me but he’s a Russell Wilson type kid. He’s getting there every morning at 5:30, he’s not leaving until the coaches leave.”

That’s not likely to sway the way Seahawks fans feel about a guy who kisses his bicep when he scores a touchdown or mocks opposing teams. And they’re not likely to have much love for head coach Jim Harbaugh, whose abrasiveness and seemingly constant complaining rubs many fans in Seattle (and pretty much everywhere else in the league) the wrong way.

But Middlekauff argues there’s actually not much of a difference between Harbaugh and Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll.

“If we flip flopped Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh , Seattle would love Jim and San Francisco would love Pete.”

In the meantime, Carroll remains a much maligned figure in the Bay Area. Some guys at 95.7 The Game in San Francisco skewered our beloved coach in a parody song set to Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” called “Pete Carroll Whines.”

The hate now extends beyond the Seahawks to the 12th Man – especially one of our most famous fans. After Macklemore posted a picture of the jacket he’ll wear Sunday ripping the 49ers, San Francisco’s Wild 94.9 created their own version of Macklemore’s hit song “Can’t Hold Us” called “Eff the Seahawks…and Macklemore, too.”

Needless to say, most in San Francisco are picking the Niners to knock off the Seahawks in a hard fought game Sunday.

Middlekauff says he would have given the nod to Seattle because of the 12th Man if Percy Harvin were playing. But with the speedy Seattle receiver out with a concussion, he thinks San Francisco has just too many weapons for the Seahawks to stop and predicts the Niners will win 19-17.

And despite Tom and Curley’s urging, he’s not about to give Seattle a friendly “Go Hawks.”

“You can’t get me to say that just yet,” he laughs.