Seattle

All week, Jim Harbaugh has deflected questions about the rivalry. You know which rivalry: San Francisco versus Seattle—the Hatfields and McCoys of professional football—with Sunday's installment set to determine the NFC champion.

Harbaugh, coach of the San Francisco 49ers, refuses to say much about the Seahawks, who in September gave the 49ers what turned out to be their worst loss of the season, a 29-3 beating right here in Seattle, where Sunday's game will be played.

Given that drubbing, wouldn't you expect San Francisco to try to set the tone early? "I don't know about tones. Setting tones. What is that exactly?" Harbaugh mused, before shutting down any further conversation with, "No desire to talk about our plan."

In the other locker room, Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman is very familiar with Harbaugh's love of silence. At Stanford, Sherman played for—and says he felt verbally restrained by—Harbaugh.