San Francisco 49ers @ Seattle Seahawks
Saturday, January 17th, 8:00 PM ET
The San Francisco 49ers square off against the Seattle Seahawks for a third time this year. The 49ers played the Seahawks in Seattle in Week 1 and actually beat them, but that was months ago at this point. In Week 18, the Seahawks overwhelmed the 49ers and clinched the no. 1 overall NFC seed with that win, and I do believe that is where we are trending in this one.
The 49ers are not only banged up on both sides of the ball, but George Kittle tore his Achilles in the Wild Card Round, so the offense is down their best overall weapon. It'll be an even heavier dose of Christian McCaffrey, and the Seahawks secondary just should not have a tough time keeping this WR room contained, which has lost players like Ricky Pearsall and Brandon Aiyuk.
The Niners' season will likely come to an end, but it's otherwise been a marvelous coaching job by Kyle Shanahan and his staff. If the Niners are able to win 12 regular season games with the amount of injuries they had, imagine how good they could be in 2026 with a healthier unit.
The Seahawks are coming into this one having the first-round bye and a ton of time to rest. At this point in the season, that rest is so crucial. Seattle hurts you by simply being too explosive on both sides of the ball. The defense gets to the QB at a high level, and this unit is physical and will attack the ball.
On offense, they can throw the ball down field with ease, as that's something that Sam Darnold has really excelled at this year. The underdog story here would be fun to pick, but there really isn't a path for the 49ers to win this one unless the Seahawks decide to not show up.
San Francisco should hold their heads high, though, as they've had a great season and did just come off a down 2024 season where they won just six games. I believe Seattle wins this one by 10 points.