When the Wild Card round of the 2025 NFL playoffs began, there were four teams that could have been the Seattle Seahawks' opponent in the divisional round. Now that the NFC portion of round one is over, we know Seattle will once again be taking on Kyle Shanahan’s San Francisco 49ers.
If you like to play percentages, this was the least likely outcome. It required San Francisco winning on the road against the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles and the Bears defeating the Packers in Chicago. Both San Fran and Chicago were underdogs in their respective games.
But Chicago pulled off a miraculous comeback on Saturday night, and then the 49ers' defense played their hearts out while Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, and the rest of the offense came up big when they had to.
So now, the banged-up 49ers get to travel to Seattle to take on a rested Seahawks’ team for the second time in three weeks. In Week 18 of the regular season, Seattle stymied the 49ers en route to a 13-3 win. Can we expect the same next week?
Seahawks will face an old foe in the divisional round of the playoffs
The first thing to be aware of is that the 49ers are wounded. Though they should have All-Everything left tackle Trent Williams on the field next week (he missed the Week 18 game), they lost tight end George Kittle early in the Eagles’ game.
He was carted off with what was later described as an Achilles injury. Shortly after the game, it was confirmed as a torn Achilles, meaning Kittle will not play next weekend.
This is a massive loss. The 49ers’ offense, which had been a juggernaut heading into the Seahawks’ game, has been a shell of itself the past couple of weeks. Though they did come up with several huge plays against a very good Eagles’ defense, they struggled to run the ball throughout the whole game.
With Kittle gone, that puts even more pressure on the passing attack that is already without Brandon Aiyuk and has not had Ricky Pearsall for the past several weeks. Pearsall’s status for next week remains unknown.
But Kyle Shanahan is a very smart offensive mind, and Christian McCaffrey is always capable of taking over a game. Demarcus Robinson came up big against Philly. Jauan Jennings only touched the ball twice – once as a receiver and a second time as a passer. Those plays gained 74 yards and scored a crucial touchdown.
The 49ers still have playmakers.
But the Seahawks suffocated them a week ago, and there’s no reason to think things will be very different next weekend. What may be harder to figure out is how the 49ers' defense is managing to perform at such a high level.
They are missing Fred Warner and Nick Bosa. Against Philly, they used three backup linebackers. Their defense is filled with rookies and journeymen. Still, Robert Saleh has them playing lights out.
In consecutive weeks, they have held two good offenses to a grand total of 668 yards and 4.8 yards per play. Most importantly, Seattle and Philadelphia – teams who averaged a combined 50 points per game this year - managed to score just 32 points against Saleh's ragtag group.
San Francisco is going to play Seattle tough. No one should doubt that. That’s true regardless of who is on the field. But Seattle should be able to take advantage of their clear advantages on both sides of the ball.
The one trap Mike Macdonald and Klint Kubiak cannot fall into is the one we saw in the Indianapolis game in week 15. The Colts entered that game battered and bruised. Macdonald probably figured the only way Seattle would lose was if they made a lot of mistakes and beat themselves. So they played very conservatively and very nearly lost.
Seattle needs to be aggressive against San Francisco. If they are a little rusty and make a mistake or two early, that’s OK. They are the better, healthier team. If they match the 49ers’ intensity, they will win.
If they play scared … well, last year, the top seed in the NFC lost in the divisional round, despite being heavy favorites. That’s a trend that the Seahawks should not allow to continue.