* Seattle vs. San Francisco
Sunday, November 19, 2006. 1:15 PM, PST.
Week 11
The Battle Of The Wounded Hawks

Talk about gettin' up after being challenged, in the last two weeks the Niners' defense acquitted themselves far better after the blowout in Chicago and taking plenty of heat for their failings.

A two game winning streak. Hmm. Yeah. Feels pretty good. A bit familiar. A little nostalgic. And it's been a while since we've felt this way. Like hearing music from your high school days drifting by from the window of a passing car.

Granted, the offenses they did better against were Minnesota and Detroit. But the defense looked far better than before. OK, granted; they couldn't have looked much worse if they had tried.

But after holding both MIN and DET to a 3rd down conversion rate of about a third and reigning in two streaky offenses who'd had a bit of success this year, it feels a little better from how things felt after that whole Chicago-style debacle.

So what's contributed to this difference? Well, after getting excoriated in this very column, for the past two weeks LB Brandon Moore has been playing as though his favorite shirt depended on it. He's been stupendous.

And into town now come the NFC West-leading Seattle Seahawks. You can tell where they are by the trail of blood they leave behind them. They're missing huge hanks of players from their D, and the two main skill players for their offense are trying to make this Sunday their return to the field from injury.

By SFist Christopher Rogers for "American Football Spectacular," contributing