Time for 49ers to send a message

ByJEFFRI CHADIHA
December 7, 2013, 3:13 PM

— -- There comes a point in every NFL season when a contender knows exactly what it has going.

The San Francisco 49ers are about to reach that point this Sunday, when they meet the Seattle Seahawks. It's a game that won't have much impact on the division race -- Seattle is running away with that at this point -- but it is one that will let us know if San Francisco will ever keep pace with its NFC West rival in the coming years. In other words, we're about to learn if the 49ers will ever be as good as they were over the past two seasons.

This is more a testament to Seattle than it is a knock on San Francisco. The Seahawks have taken a team that was young and promising a year ago and turned it into the best squad in the NFL at the moment. They have everything a head coach would want in a roster -- talented quarterback, strong running game, stingy defense and reliable special teams. It's no coincidence that Seattle, now 11-1, is riding a seven-game winning streak, its only loss coming in Indianapolis on Oct. 6.