The 49ers’ winning season got a little sweeter Tuesday, as eight players were selected to the Pro Bowl, the most from any NFC team and tied with the New England Patriots for most in the NFL.

Linebacker Patrick Willis, running back Frank Gore, defensive tackle Justin Smith, kicker David Akers and punter Andy Lee each make a return to the game, while safety Dashon Goldson, cornerback Carlos Rogers and tackle Joe Staley were selected for the first time.

“It’s an awesome thing to have some friends there,” Lee said. “Hopefully we won’t be there, and we’ll be in the Super Bowl.”

Frank Gore’s third selection comes in a season in which he set the 49ers’ franchise records for career rushing yards, currently at 7,616, and total 1,000-yard seasons with five. It’s also a season he felt he had something to prove after missing five games in a disappointing 2010.

“Coming off my injury, I was hungry and I wanted to show a lot of people that I will be back and able to play this game like I have before,” he said.

Credit for the turnaround by the team and by individual players has been given all year to coach Jim Harbaugh and his staff for changing the culture of the a franchise that had not had a winning record since 2002.

“As a team, I feel that we’ve always had the talent,” Gore said. “Now, we have the right guys in front of us who can lead the way.”

Rogers echoed Gore’s sentiment.

“Once you add winning to it and then the season that I’m having and the coaching staff and ownership, all that plays a part,” he said. “This is the most fun I’ve had in my seven years playing.”

Rogers was ushered out of the Washington Redskins organization after six years, and said coming to a new team gave him all the motivation he needed.

“That makes it a lot better, especially coming to a team that it’s your first year on the team — it’s your only year on the team — and to have a season like that, not knowing what’s going to come out of it,” he said, “you want to have a really good year and try and impress your team and let them know they didn’t make a mistake with that pick.”

Willis becomes the first 49er to make the Pro Bowl in each of his first five seasons, and ranks second on the team with 115 tackles despite missing the past three games with a hamstring injury. He has also set a career high in forced fumbles, fumbles recovered and passes defended while leading the stingiest defense in football.

“My hat goes off to this team and what we’ve done so far,” he said, “but I know it’s not the end of what we’re trying to do.”

In addition to the eight starters, 10 other 49ers were selected as alternates.

bmartin@sfexaminer.com

By James Brady

– Contributor

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Dec 27, 2011 – The San Francisco 49ers of the last eight years have been entering Week 17 either calling it a season, or hoping on an awful lot of things to happen to allow them into the playoffs. Since 2003, Week 17 has marked the point in which 49ers fans turn on the TV, get a little angrier about a lost season, turn it back off again and start studying draft prospects. Now they’ve got a new coaching staff, a few new faces on the roster and they’re sitting at 12-3, with the prospect of finishing seven games ahead of where they were last season.

On top of that, they need only to win Sunday’s game against the lowly St. Louis Rams to secure the No. 2 seed, though it’s not entirely required. The New Orleans Saints moved to 12-3 on Monday Night Football, soundly beating the Atlanta Falcons, and San Francisco holds a tiebreak. If the 49ers don’t beat the Rams and the Saints also lose their game, then San Francisco would still hold the No. 2 seed.

That being said, you can’t depend on Drew Brees and New Orleans losing a football game any week of the season. Though San Francisco likely had hoped to rest some starters on Sunday, it’s likely that the usual guys will be in action. Players like Justin Smith, Carlos Rogers, Frank Gore and Patrick Willis could use a break (if Willis is even healthy enough to go), and it’s very possible that Jim Harbaugh wanted to give Colin Kaepernick some playing time in lieu of Alex Smith.

For the Rams, they’d love to play spoiler, and that’s really all this game could be at this point. They’re lined up for one of the top picks in the draft, and there will be players and coaches trying to secure jobs next season, and that could mean beating the 49ers. Not a ton has changed since the last time these two teams met, when the 49ers thoroughly dominated.

Read More: Carlos Rogers (DB – SFX), Drew Brees (QB – NOS), Frank Gore (RB – SFX), Justin Smith (DE – SFX), Patrick Willis (LB – SFX), Colin Kaepernick (QB – SFX), San Francisco 49ers, St. Louis Rams

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Another dominant performance by their defense has the San Francisco 49ers moving closer to securing a first-round bye in the
playoffs.

The 49ers will try to avoid a third straight road loss Saturday when they face the
Seattle Seahawks
, who are looking to keep their faint playoff hopes alive.

Having clinched the NFC West for the first time since 2002, San Francisco (11-3) is trying to finish in one of the top two
spots in the conference and earn a first-round bye.

With Green Bay likely to claim the NFC’s best record, the 49ers are trying to fend off New Orleans for the No. 2 seed. The
Saints host Atlanta on Monday.

The 49ers helped their cause with a 20-3 win over Pittsburgh on Monday. Their defense was as lights out as the stadium itself,
giving up only a third-quarter field goal. It was the fifth time this season they’ve given up fewer than 10 points.

San Francisco continues to be led by a stellar run defense. The 49ers held the Steelers to 84 yards on the ground – the 13th
time this year they’ve allowed fewer than 100 rushing yards.

Even more impressive – San Francisco has yet to give up a rushing touchdown.

Going back to 1932, the fewest rushing touchdowns allowed through an entire season is two – set by the 1934
Detroit Lions
, 1968
Dallas Cowboys
and 1971
Minnesota Vikings
. The 49ers, who are looking to reach 12 wins for the first time since 2001, have already set an NFL record through 14 games.

“It’s a big goal to stop the run. You don’t set up on your goal board at the beginning of the year to not allow a rushing
touchdown for the first 14 games of the season. You want to be good against the run, you want to stop the run,” coach Jim
Harbaugh said. “Our team has been doing that. Some 30-some games since there’s been a 100-yard rusher. That’s another benchmark
standard that I’ve read about. Again, it’s a credit to the guys that are up front.”

San Francisco’s defense could be even more formidable with the possible return of four-time Pro Bowl linebacker
Patrick Willis
, who has missed the last two games with an injured right hamstring. He’s second on the team with 93 tackles and leads with
four forced fumbles.

As well as their defense is playing, the 49ers’ streak of not allowing a rushing touchdown as well as a 36-game stretch of
not yielding a 100-yard rusher, could be challenged by Seattle’s
Marshawn Lynch
.

Lynch has rushed for 1,011 yards and 11 touchdowns this season, including five scores in the last three games. He’s the first
Seattle running back to go over 1,000 yards since Shaun Alexander in 2005.

“Marshawn is running that ball – like I told guys, he’s running like he just got out of jail or something,” 49ers cornerback

Carlos Rogers
said. “He’s running that ball hard. It’s going to be a challenge, and just going into their place is a challenge with the
way they’re playing.”

The 49ers have contained Lynch in three meetings. He has no touchdowns in those games and rushed for just 33 yards on 13 carries
in a 33-17 season-opening loss at San Francisco on Sept. 11.

Lynch and the Seahawks (7-7) have plenty of motivation this weekend with a playoff spot still a possibility. However, they
need Atlanta and Detroit to lose out and some other games to go their way.

After losing six of eight to open the season, Seattle continued its turnaround with a 38-14 win at Chicago last Sunday. Lynch
had two touchdowns despite being held to 42 yards on 20 carries. He ran for 124.7 yards per game in the previous three contests,
averaging 5.4 yards per carry.

While the Bears were focusing on Lynch,
Tarvaris Jackson
completed 19 of 31 passes for 227 yards and one touchdown. He’s gone three games without an interception after throwing 12
in the first 10 games.

With Jackson playing better and Lynch running the ball well, Seattle is looking to win four straight for the first time since
a five-game winning streak in 2007. While its defense may not be impressive as San Francisco’s, it’s making some noise recently
as well.

The Seahawks have given up 41 points in the last three games, getting four interceptions in two of those games. They’ve been
particularly effective at making halftime adjustments, allowing 17 total second-half points the last three games.

“Most of the time, what happens at halftime is you get back to the things that you intended to do and sometimes didn’t show
up at the start. Quite often, that’s the case – not always,” coach Pete Carroll said.

Seattle has won its last two home games against San Francisco, giving up 23 points.

Former 49ers general manager Scot McCloughan said he was only joking when he predicted that the Seattle Seahawks would “beat the hell” out of the 49ers on Saturday.

Now a senior personnel executive for the Seahawks, McCloughan was quoted by Yahoo’s Mike Silver as saying of the 49ers: “They come to our place Christmas Eve, and we’re going to beat the hell out of ‘em.”

Asked Friday by this newspaper if the quote was accurate, McCloughan responded via text message: “Said it jokingly, no story at all.”

McCloughan left his post with the 49ers a month before the 2010 draft. The Yahoo! Story examined how McCloughan helped construct a 49ers roster that has produced the franchise’s first NFC West title since 2002.

The Yahoo! report also shared an anecdote about how proud McCloughan was of Frank Gore becoming the 49ers’ all-time leading rusher. Gore was a third-round pick in McCloughan’s first draft in 2005.

McCloughan is considered a candidate for the Raiders’ vacant general manager post. His ties run deep to that franchise, as his father, Kent, played for the Raiders and has served as a longtime scout.

The 49ers’ injury report lists four players as questionable (50 percent they play): linebacker Patrick Willis (hamstring), fullback Bruce Miller (knee), wide receiver Braylon Edwards (knee) and return specialist/receiver Ted Ginn Jr., who did not practice all week because of an ankle injury. The other three players were limited in practice.

If Ginn cannot play, he likely will be replaced at receiver and on punt returns by Kyle Williams, with Kendall Hunter a leading candidate to return kickoffs.

As for Willis, he practiced in limited fashion the past two days, his first on-field action since straining that hamstring Dec. 4. That is a positive development. But the 49ers will have to weigh whether to play him or risk aggravating that injury with two or three weeks to go until the franchise’s first playoff game in nine years.

Seahawks leading receiver Doug Baldwin did not practice for a second straight day because of an ankle injury and is listed as questionable. Three players are listed as doubtful: cornerback Kennard Cox (hamstring), defensive tackle Clinton McDonald (concussion) and linebacker Malcolm Smith (concussion).

Quarterback Tarvaris Jackson (pectoral) is probable, as is guard Robert Gallery (pelvis) and linebacker David Hawthorne (knee).

For more on the 49ers, see Cam Inman’s Hot Read blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers.

The San Francisco 49ers will close out the 2011 regular season with two games against NFC West opponents before preparing for the playoffs. Om December 24, they will play on the road against the Seattle Seahawks in a game that is more difficult than it looked on the schedule weeks ago.

San Francisco is coming off of a big win at home on Monday Night Football against the Pittsburgh Steelers where they dominated from start to finish. San Francisco is a very good, disciplined team and will need to play that way to leave Seattle with a victory. While Seattle’s record does not look impressive, they present one of the most difficult places for an opponent to play on the road. Seattle plays very well at home and they have an excellent crowd behind them.

Even with the home field advantage, it’s unlikely to be enough in this game. If San Francisco continues to limit their turnovers, Seattle is simply not good enough to stay with San Francisco for four quarters. The 49er offense has become more balanced as the season goes on and should have no problem moving the ball and scoring against Seattle. If Alex Smith can play turnover free football, San Francisco should continue their winning ways in week 16.

Seattle has played much better of late behind an improved running game led by Marshawn Lynch. The problem for the Seahawk offense is that nobody runs the football against San Francisco. San Francisco has not allowed a rushing touchdown all season and their defense is just getting more and more impressive every week. Fans can also be excited that middle linebacker Patrick Willis is likely to return to the lineup this week. Fans should have no doubt that this is a defense capable of carrying San Francisco deep into the playoffs.

At this point, San Francisco fans are ready to move past their last two divisional games and begin the playoffs. Hopefully the team can use these games to get even better and prepare themselves for a deep playoff run. This team is certainly talented enough to go far in the playoffs and they have proved that so far this season. At 11-3, San Francisco is still playing for playoff seeding and should get another victory to move them even closer to a first round bye.

Prediction: 49ers 24, Seahawks 13

Kyle Rapoza is a Featured Contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network and grew up in Northern California rooting for the 49ers teams led by Joe Montana and Steve Young. Follow him on Twitter @kyler11.

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