NFL Football

2026-01-03 - Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers

A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown

Seattle Seahawks @ San Francisco 49ers
United States : NFL Week 18
Saturday 3rd January 2025 - Scheduled 8pm
1am (British Time)

Preview

After the Los Angeles Rams were beaten on Monday Night Football to put the NFC South in a funny position going into the final Week of the regular season, it was also a result that has massively cleared up the top of the NFC West.

Three teams will be heading to the post-season from the NFC West, but two of those will be out on the road.

One of those is the Los Angeles Rams, but the other is going to be decided on Saturday when the Divisional lead is fought out between the Seattle Seahawks (13-3) and San Francisco 49ers (12-4). Avoiding defeat is the focus for the Seahawks, but a loss would hand the 49ers the top Seed in the Conference and the Divisional title having already beaten Seattle on the road back in Week 1 of the season.

So much has changed for the 49ers since then with injuries decimating the Defensive unit and playing without Quarter Back Brock Purdy for a huge part of the regular season. With that in mind, all credit has to be given to Kyle Shanahan and his Coaching staff for putting the 49ers in a position where they can win the NFC West and earn the top Seed in the Conference.

At the same time, credit has to be given to the Seattle Seahawks for the season they have put together and Sam Darnold will feel this is another chance to prove himself as capable of winning a big game.

The Quarter Back led a huge comeback against the Los Angeles Rams a couple of weeks ago to keep the Seattle Seahawks on track for the top Seed in the Conference and he will have been encouraged by the San Francisco Defensive struggles in the 49ers win over Chicago last weekend.

Both teams are in a tough spot- Seattle had to play in the early Eastern time slot last week and San Francisco were on Sunday Night Football meaning this short week feels shorter than usual.

However, there will be no excuses with so much on the line not only for the Division, but potentially for the run to the Super Bowl.

Seattle might be on the road, but they are going to be confident in what they can do with the ball in hand.

In recent games, the Seahawks Offensive Line have shown they can play January Football by helping establish the run and Seattle are expected to have considerable success on the ground. Last week the Bears were able to execute very well when running the ball to keep the Quarter Back in front of the chains and and the Seahawks will look for a similar approach to make sure they are extending drives.

This should mean Sam Darnold has time to find his Receivers when he does drop back to throw, while the Quarter Back is not expected to be under a lot of pressure after the injuries San Francisco have suffered in the pass rush department. All of that suggests that the Seahawks can have successes like the Bears and Indianapolis Colts have had against the 49ers in the last couple of weeks and that will shift the pressure onto Brock Purdy and the San Francisco Offensive unit.

In those games Brock Purdy has more than handled the extra pressure and he will be confident with the likelihood of having George Kittle back.

However, Trent Williams is expected to missing on the Offensive Line and that is a massive blow for the 49ers who may struggle to run the ball with any consistency. It was already going to be a test against this Seattle Defensive Line, but without Williams it is so much tougher and that will mean it is up to Brock Purdy.

The Quarter Back has shown he can make big plays with his arm and his legs in leading the 49ers to high-scoring wins over the Colts and Bears, but those Defensive units do not stack up to the capabilities of the Seattle Seahawks.

Brock Purdy has been well protected, but the Seattle Secondary have played at a very good level all season and so it may be tough to replicate recent outings produced by the Quarter Back. Instead drives may stall and the 49ers may be a bit too one-dimensional, which could mean the momentum ends up being with the Seattle Seahawks.

The 49ers have won seven of the last eight between these NFC West rivals, but the sole exception in that run came in the San Francisco home loss to Seattle last season.

We could see the Seahawks make it back to back wins at the Stadium that is hosting the Super Bowl in February and that will make Seattle a real threat to return here for the big game in the weeks ahead.