Hawks-Niner Rivalry Heats Up

They engage each other in bitter verbal back and forth from their respective posts separated by some 800 miles of the Pacific Coast.

They claim each other's waiver leftovers — not always, it seems, for a competitive advantage but rather in acts of gamesmanship.

The men in charge, Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh, have been fierce rivals back to their college coaching days in the Pac-10.

Here we go, it's 49ers-Seahawks Part I this week.

And everybody involved knows the NFC West will likely come down to these two nemeses when this season's all said and done, with a pair of dynamic young quarterbacks leading the way.

oach  Carroll is hopeful the Seattle Seahawks will get starting cornerback Brandon Browner back for Sunday night's NFC West showdown with San Francisco.

Carroll said Wednesday that Browner continues to recover from a hamstring injury suffered last week. Browner was expected to run on Wednesday and, if there are no setbacks, go through practice Thursday.

Carroll also expects defensive end Cliff Avril to be able to play against the 49ers after he missed Sunday's season opener, also with a lingering hamstring injury. Avril said he was close to being able to go against the Panthers, but trainers felt it best to hold him out.

Seattle added depth Wednesday by signing free agent tight end Kellen Davis and releasing linebacker Allen Bradford. Davis will be the third tight end on the roster.