49ers vs. Seahawks Preview and Predictions: NFC West rivals clash in divisional round

After a shocking upset of the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in the wildcard round, the undermanned but resilient San Francisco 49ers have earned a trip up to Lumen Field. 

On Saturday, they will take on the well-rested NFC No. 1 seed Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round of the NFL Playoffs, with the victor advancing to the NFC Championship game against either the Los Angeles Rams or Chicago Bears. 

The No. 6 seed 49ers enter Saturday night’s contest as 7-point road underdogs, a week after being 5½-point underdogs to the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round. 

Despite the 49ers’ consistent success this season, such as entering last week’s matchup with a superior 12-5 record to the Eagles’ 11-6, it has been hard to believe in their ability to actually contend for a Super Bowl given their extensive injuries. 

On offense, the 49ers have been left without star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk all season, and on Sunday, were without wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, who’s looking to return against the Seahawks. 

All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams has been dealing with a nagging hamstring injury and was a late game-time decision against Philadelphia, and San Francisco's wretched injury woes hit a new low when they lost George Kittle in the wildcard round to a torn Achilles that ended the star tight end’s season. 

But for as undermanned as head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense has been this season, it pales in comparison to the injuries they have endured on the defensive side of the ball. 

Ric Tapia - The Sporting Tribune

Luke Farrell #89 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates a touchdown during the game against the Los Angeles Rams at Levi’s Stadium on November 9, 2025 in Santa Clara, California.

After losing the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year in pass rusher Nick Bosa to a torn ACL in Week 3 and losing four-time All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner to a dislocated ankle in Week 6, the 49ers’ defensive depth has continued to drop like flies throughout the season. 

At linebacker, San Francisco is currently without Warner, Tatum Bethune, Nick Martin and Luke Gifford. 

Weakside linebacker Dee Winters was inactive during the wildcard round against the Eagles, but was a limited practice participant on Tuesday. 

Meanwhile, Warner’s practice window to return from injury was opened this Tuesday, marking a major milestone in an unexpected return from what was thought to be a season-ending injury. 

However, a return as soon as Saturday seems outside the realm of possibility for Warner, who will likely target the NFC Championship game for his first game back if San Francisco can advance past Seattle. 

“We’re opening his window so he can do some stuff … hoping he can be ready for next week,” Shanahan said at a press conference Tuesday. 

But for as banged up as defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s unit is, the 49ers defense has performed admirably in the biggest moments of their season. 

Despite the loss, San Francisco held Seattle to just 13 points in their Week 18 matchup for the No. 1 seed and held Philadelphia to six points in the second half of their wildcard win.

Perhaps no single player exemplifies the 49ers’ “next man up” approach more than linebacker Garrett Wallow. 

After spending the majority of the 2025 season on the Denver Broncos’ practice squad, Wallow has helped fill the void left by injury for Saleh’s defense in a major way. 

In his career postseason start, Wallow played a major role in the upset victory, leading the team with 11 tackles against the Eagles. 

“You never know when you get a guy off someone else’s practice squad,” Shanahan said on Tuesday. “But right away you could tell he was an NFL player with a lot of upside.”

On Saturday, the 49ers patchwork defense that has performed above expectations, will look to continue that trend against a Seahawks offense that has not played its best ball down the stretch of the season. 

Robin Alam - The Sporting Tribune

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) throws the football during an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams, on Thursday December 18, 2025 in Seattle, Washington.

While Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold led the entire NFL in QBR through the first 10 weeks of the season, the former Minnesota Vikings signal-caller has plummeted to 27th in the league from weeks 11-18 in the same metric. 

Additionally, Darnold led the NFL in total turnovers this season with 20. 

There are concerns surrounding Darnold’s playoff mettle heading into the divisional round, as the eighth-year quarterback had the worst outing of his season with Minnesota in his playoff debut: a 27-9 blowout wildcard loss to the Rams. 

Despite their frequent use of heavy personnel, Seattle grades out as a much better passing offense than rushing offense. The Seahawks rank eighth in the NFL in EPA per pass, but just 29th in EPA per rush. 

Jessica Cryderman - The Sporting Tribune

Seattle Seahawks linebacker, Drake Thomas (42) celebrates a turnover during an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams on November 16, 2025 in Los Angeles, CA.

Seattle’s air attack is led by All-Pro wide receiver and Offensive Player of the Year favorite Jaxon Smith-Njigba. However, the Seahawks’ inefficiency in the run game bodes well for a 49er defense that frequently operates out of nickel packages.  

While there is cause for optimism in how San Francisco matches up defensively with Seattle, they will have to perform much better offensively than they did in Week 18 to have a chance to pull off the divisional playoff upset. 

The 49ers mustered up just three points in the final week of the regular season against the vaunted Seahawks defense that ranks second in the NFL in EPA per play allowed. 

49ers quarterback Brock Purdy completed 19-of-27 passes for just 127 yards with no touchdowns and one interception with a paltry 64.9 passer rating. 

The chief obstacle facing the San Francisco offense is that against the star-studded Seattle defensive front, there is little hope of moving the ball on the ground, which puts a major burden on Purdy and the 49ers’ aerial attack. 

Headlined by Second Team All-Pro defensive lineman Leonard Williams and edge rushers like Demarcus Lawrence and Uchenna Nwosu, the Seahawks defense ranks first in the NFL in EPA per rush allowed. 

On the flip side, San Francisco has struggled mightily running the ball this season. 

Despite First Team All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey’s gaudy numbers this season as a dual-threat receiving back, he ranks just 40th in the NFL with 3.9 yards per carry. 

Against Seattle in Week 18, McCaffrey totaled only 23 yards on 2.9 yards per carry, and even in San Francisco’s wildcard victory over Philadelphia, the team averaged just 3.0 yards per rush on 25 attempts. 

The burden of leaning so heavily on the dropback passing game without an efficient run game to supplement it was evident in last week's game, where Purdy threw two interceptions to Eagles’ cornerback Quinyon Mitchell. 

Not turning the ball over will be a challenge for Purdy on Saturday, facing a Seattle defense that ranks seventh in the NFL in total takeaways. 

OFFICIAL PREDICTION: SEAHAWKS 16 – 49ers 10

While Robert Saleh’s scrappy defensive unit limits Sam Darnold to another poor playoff game, Seattle’s defense carries the conference No. 1 seed to a home NFC Conference Championship game against the winner of Rams – Bears. 

With no semblance of a productive run game, expect Brock Purdy to struggle to move the ball against a Seattle secondary that forces him into consecutive playoff games with multiple turnovers.