Tonight, the New England Patriots will host one of the NFC's very best: the 9-3-1 San Francisco 49ers. The game is the Patriots' second to last home game, and is of critical importance to both teams as they jockey for playoff positioning. The Patriots now sit half a game back of the second seed with the Broncos' 34-17 win over the Ravens. The 49ers meanwhile, sit just half a game ahead of the Seahawks for the NFC West division lead.

Use this thread to discuss the match-up. For 49ers coverage, visit Niners Nation. The game will be telecast to a national audience on NBC at 8:20 PM ET. For radio coverage, tune into Dial Global Sports.

As for my prediction? I'm expecting an extremely close, tough fought match-up. Simply put, I don't expect anything similar to the rout we saw last week against the Texans. The Niners are good, they're tough, and they won't back down (which frankly, Houston did on Monday). Greg's Prediction: Patriots 23 49ers 19