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Last week, Earl Thomas and the Seattle Seahawks defense came through with their best performance of the season, as they suffocated the Arizona Cardinals attack in a 19-3 win.

It had been an up-and-down season for Seattle’s defense, but the resurgence all started, oddly enough, with ET III and some sunflower seeds. During Thursday’s walkthrough, the ever-intense No. 29 noticed some defensive linemen sharing some sunflower seeds. While some might just see it as a harmless snack, Earl saw it as an insult to the defensive unit’s preparation, and he ripped into his teammates.

The argument was on the verge of becoming ugly, but both sides saw what was the root of the problem: The defensive unit that was one of the best in NFL history last year needed to get back to its elite status. And against Arizona it did just that.

“It started with some remarks, and it turned into something beautiful, man,” Earl said of the incident. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. I kinda challenged some guys. Maybe it was a little harsh, but I apologized, and it led to something great—us understanding each other more, and love and togetherness and playing for our brothers.”

Seattle defensive coordinator Dan Quinn saw what everyone else watching the Hawks that day: the unit’s best performance of the season.

“That game certainly felt that way for us, but that’s just one game,” Quinn said. “Now we’re looking forward to the next challenge and the next thing ahead for us.”

That next challenge is a big one: A primetime Thanksgiving tilt against their division rivals, the San Francisco 49ers. The Seattle-San Fran rivalry has been one of the best in the NFL, as the two neighboring squads have competed not only for the NFC West crown, but have been two of top perennial Super Bowl contenders in recent years.

This will mark the first time the teams have met since last year’s NFC Championship game, when star cornerback Richard Sherman tipped Colin Kaepernick’s pass intended for Michael Crabtree to Malcolm Smith for a game-ending interception.

That interception, which sent the Seahawks to the Super Bowl where they eventually defeated Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, was the reason Sherman was the first player interviewed after the game—and that’s when Seattle cornerback delivered his now-legendary rant against Crabtree.

That stands as the last memory of the Seahawks that the Niners will take into this game, so the rivalry is sure to be as heated as ever on Turkey Day.

Earl and the Legion of Boom will have their hands full with the 7-4 49ers, winners of three straight, in San Francisco. The Seahawks, also 7-4, have won four of their last five games, with their only loss coming in Week 11 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Seattle is also coming off perhaps its best win of the season, after its staunch defense held the league-leading Arizona Cardinals to just three points and 204 yards.

It’ll be a short week for both squads, as they’ll each have just three days of rest and preparation between games. While many have voiced their displeasure in this grueling setup, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson likes that it will bring an increased sense of urgency for the team during the time it does have.

“I’m excited about the short week,” he said. “It’s a great time to really emphasize the idea of visualization and using that as much as you can and just capitalize on those moments. You have to have quality reps, that’s for sure, and we’re excited about that.”

The Seahawks will have to get used to the intensity, as they’re entering a treacherous closing stretch of the season, featuring four divisional contests and four games against teams with records of 7-4 or better. Three of those tilts will come away from the 12s at CenturyLink Field, and two will come against the Niners.

On the offensive side, Wilson, Marshawn Lynch and the Seattle ground game will be vital. The Seattle attack has the third-fewest passing yards per game this season, but its rushing attack is second to none in the league.

The San Francisco attack face mirrors Seattle’s run-first style. The Niners have the ninth-worst per-game passing totals in the NFL, but they are No. 11 in per-game rushing.

This means ET and the L.O.B. will likely be spending much of their time in run support, and the Seahawks are very familiar with 49ers running back Frank Gore. In the three games between the two teams last season, Gore received nine, 17 and 11 carries, respectively. In the first and third games, the Hawks held Gore to just 30 yards on those 20 carries. In the second game, the running back made far better use of his carries, picking up 110 yards in a San Francisco win.

Kaepernick also plays a major role in the teams rushing efforts. The SF QB currently ranks second among quarterbacks in rushing yardage, behind only Wilson. Quinn broke how he expects Kaepernick, Gore and Co. to attack his defense.

“We know how good these guys are in the run game, and they can do it in a variety of different ways: quarterback under center, they do it in shotgun, they do it with quarterback runs and with running backs,” Quinn said this week. “So, it’s certainly a team we regard well in that way and we’re certainly looking forward to the challenge of going against them.

“It’ll take all of us, in terms of the way we rush and the way we cover and the way we attack him, because we know (Kaepernick) can be so dangerous with his legs.”

No. 29 knows full well his role in that regard. In addition to taking care of the back end in the passing game, he’ll have to come up in run support and clean up plays when opposing rushers break through the first level.

Last week, he reinforced the fact that he is one of the best tackling safeties in football with a clutch open-field takedown of Cardinals running back Andre Ellington last week. Ellington caught a swing pass no more than a yard shy of a first down on 3rd-and-2, but ET III rocketed in and wrestled him down short of the sticks.

That was the type of play that was missing from the Seattle defense in weeks prior this year, but those plays came in bunches against Arizona. Earl attributes that to the trust he and his teammates regained in one another—a trust they’ll need against the Niners.

“The whole thing brought me closer to myself, to my true nature,” Earl said. “My teammates helped me get there, though. But staying true to myself helped me get there, too.

“We came away from that with a lot of love, and we gave a lot of hugs. And it reminded us to just go out and have fun and not worry about messing up. If somebody messes up, their brother’s gonna take care of him. You can’t let anything you hold back. That’s when we’re at our best. When we have love and togetherness, we feed off each other, and it’s a beautiful thing.”

With the Cardinals at the top of the NFC West at 9-1, this contest will be crucial for the playoff hopes of both Seattle and San Francisco.

The game will be nationally televised on NBC, and kickoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. EST.

RELATED LINKS

• Earl Thomas: The Importance of Family (Q13 Fox, Nov. 24, 2014)
• Earl Thomas helps Seahawks regain swagger (NFL.com, Nov. 23, 2014)
• Seahawks defense playing with confidence and intensity again (The Seattle Times, Nov. 24, 2014)
• Dan Quinn Week 13 Press Conference (Seahawks.com, Nov. 25, 2014)
• Seahawks’ defense feels the love, and intensity (Seattle Times, Nov. 23, 2014)