(Seattle) The series of three defeats of the San Francisco 49ers which restarted the race in the West section of the National already seems distant.

The 49ers will visit the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night and will have the chance to build a two-game lead at the top of their section. A victory for the 49ers (7-3) would mark their fourth straight victory against the Seahawks and they would win a 10th straight meeting against rivals from the NL West.

However, a victory for the Seahawks (6-4) would overshadow a frustrating loss to the Los Angeles Rams last Sunday and allow them to catch up with the 49ers before a difficult portion of their schedule.

“They’re a section rival and we need a win to get to them, so that’s clear,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. We know what we must accomplish. »

It’s also pretty clear that the 49ers’ troubles that led to defeats against the Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings and Cincinnati Bengals last month are a thing of the past. Since their bye week, the 49ers crushed the Jacksonville Jaguars and also beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday.

The scenario is quite familiar for the 49ers. Last year, they pulverized the Buccaneers in December in quarterback Brock Purdy’s first career start before beating the Seahawks 21-13 in Seattle after a short week of preparation.

Purdy threw two touchdown passes and earned a 117.0 performance rating in the win, his second career best in a road game.

“We’re playing a good team and we’re not going to fall into the trap of saying we’ve beaten them a certain number of times. It’s not like that, Purdy insisted. It’s a new match, a new team and that’s our approach. »

For the Seahawks, we expect to see Geno Smith get the start at quarterback even though he suffered an injury to the triceps of his right arm, the arm he uses for throwing, in the second half on Sunday.

Smith skipped his turn during some drills in practice on Tuesday, but he participated in the entire session on Wednesday.