Depending on which sportsbook you use, the betting lines give the Seattle Seahawks an implied win probability of nearly 80 percent in the Divisional Round. However, despite the confidence oddsmakers have, head coach Mike Macdonald isn't overlooking the San Francisco 49ers.
Macdonald addressed the media to discuss the Seahawks' upcoming matchup with their NFC West rival. He was asked if anything feels different about preparing to face the 49ers in the biggest moment of his post as Seattle's leader to date. Based on the response, the message was clear: it's just another game.
By the sound of it, Macdonald is urging his team to focus on the present and continue functioning as they have been to reach this point. He could barely acknowledge that the upcoming win-or-go-home contest against the 49ers is a postseason showdown, viewing it as "Week 19" instead.
Mike Macdonald urges Seahawks to live in the present before Divisional Round clash vs. 49ers
Looking ahead can be dangerous, as Macdonald expressed. He ostensibly wants the Seahawks to keep their eyes on the prize, and that's doing everything they can to take down the 49ers.
"What can we accomplish right now, within our power, to get ready for our Week 19 game?" Macdonald said. "You start making it bigger, and you start including all the other stuff out there; that takes you away from how we want to play and how we want to operate. That's how we approach it."
As the saying goes, don't count your chickens before they hatch. The 49ers have already proven capable of finding ways to prevail in a hostile road environment. Just ask the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, who this San Francisco group sent packing on Wild Card Weekend.
Seattle is coming off a bye with a chance to reach the NFC Championship Game for the first time since the 2014 campaign. They should be well-rested and ready to roll. Knowing this, Macdonald is reminding the Seahawks not to play with the food.
The Eagles aren't the only ones who have felt the 49ers' wrath in 2025. San Francisco defeated the Seahawks in Seattle way back on Sept. 7 in their regular-season opening clash. Regardless of what the bookmakers say, Macdonald knows from firsthand experience that his squad is facing an underdog that bites back.