(By Daisy Barringer)

Alright people. Here's the deal:

There are two weeks left in the regular season. The 49ers can clinch the No. 2 seed in the playoffs if they win their remaining games against Seattle and St. Louis. Or they can clinch it if they beat Seattle and Atlanta beats New Orleans on Monday night. Either way you do the math, it is imperative that the 49ers win today. They control their own destiny, which is a luxury in the final weeks in the NFL, and either they win and earn themselves a first-round bye and a divisional home game, or they lose and … well, let's just not think about that.

No, let's think about what needs to happen in order for the 49ers to secure this victory. As always, we'll start with:

The Bad

Seattle (7-7) still has a slim chance of slipping into the playoffs. They've won five of their last six games and need to win out for that to even be a possibility. (Atlanta or Detroit would need to lose their final two, along with some other shenanigans that I'm not going to get into because I'm hungover.)

Seattle in Seattle is always tough. Their stadium is the loudest in the NFL. 12th man and all that. This is NOT good for our offensive line. Expect to see super annoying false starts.

Ted Ginn won't play because of his ankle sprain. I'm sure you haven't forgotten Week One against Seattle where he returned a kickoff 102 yards for a touchdown and, a minute later, had a 55-yard punt return for a touchdown. God, that was awesome.

Short week for the 49ers who played on Monday night and then had to travel to Seattle. Last time we had a short week in a loud stadium (Baltimore on Thansgiving), well… you remember.

The Good

Patrick Willis practiced on Thursday for the first time since injuring his hamstring on December 4th. And while this is listed under “good,” it's worth noting that Larry Grant's done a pretty kick ass job in his absence and maybe having Patrick Willis totally healthy for the playoffs is more important than risking starting him in cold, rainy Seattle? I suspect he won't play. So, wait. Why is this under “good?” I have no idea.

Seattle's offense has improved steadily throughout the season, but um, hi: have you seen our defense? Yeah. Seattle might have a good running game with Marshawn Lynch, but our run defense is even better allowing only 71.5 rush yards per game. Seattle's going to have to find another way to move down the field. Niners Special teams. Andy Lee was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after his kick-ass (oh God, someone take the keyboard away from me) performance against the Steelers. I got “Smile of the Day” one time at summer camp and I felt like I had to really smile after that, and I'm pretty sure that's the same thing Andy Lee is feeling.

Aldon Smith. I have Seattle in my Bad Quarterback League and I would like to see Aldon knock Tavaris Jackson down over and over and over again. Aldon Smith is incredible to watch. So glad we drafted him.

The 49ers just look good. No, we don't have an explosive offense, but because our coaching, special teams, and defense are so awesome, it truly doesn't matter.

The Rest of It

I think if the 49ers lose this game, it will be largely due to crowd noise. Other than that, I'm not really nervous. We're a better team and we have everything we need to pull out a win. But that crowd noise… it makes me nervous.

That being said, the 49ers should be able to do this. If you're going to win in the NFL, you can't let something like crowd noise affect how you play. So, yes. I think the 49ers will win. And I can't wait to see the look on Pete Carroll's smug-ass face when we do.

Plus, the 49ers already ruined Thanksgiving. They wouldn't DARE ruin Christmas as well, would they?

GO NINERS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Prediction: San Francisco OVER Seattle. 19-17.