Jan. 12, 2026, 6:01 a.m. PT
The Seattle Seahawks will take on the San Francisco 49ers for the third time this year. Seattle bookended the 2025 regular season with games against San Francisco in Weeks 1 and 18, and now they’ll have to face them in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. A little scheduling quirk, considering the Niners were the last team the Seahawks played.
Now we know when these teams will face off for Round Three… well, at least sort of.
The NFL has already announced the Seahawks and 49ers will play on Saturday, January 17th… just like the Week 18 game, which was also on a Saturday. What we don’t know is at what time the game will take place, or which networks will broadcast it. Seattle will either get the 1:30 pm time slot, or the 5:00 pm slot, both in Pacific of course. These details will be finalized after the Houston Texans vs Pittsburgh Steelers game on Monday night to conclude one of the wildest Wild Card weekends in recent memory.
For those interested, the other No. 1 seed – the Denver Broncos – will also be playing on Saturday, when they host the Buffalo Bills.
My initial reaction to this news is what an unlucky break the 49ers are getting due to lack of rest… and conversely, what a fortunate turn of events in this department for the Seahawks. San Francisco played on Sunday across the country against the reigning Super Bowl champions, will fly back to the Bay Area, then hit the road with one day less of prep. If I had to wager a guess, I’d say the Seahawks/Niners game will be the later game to help potentially offset this rest issue for the Niners. But then again, the Bills played on Sunday as well, and they’ll be having to travel across the country for their game, so what do I know?
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