In one of the most consequential games of the 2025 NFL season, the San Francisco 49ers host the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday night.
San Francisco enters this game on a six-game winning streak, having improved to 12-4 with a rollicking win over the Chicago Bears last week. Brock Purdy and the offense are rolling along, helping make up for a defense that is decimated by injuries. The Niners should be getting George Kittle back in the lineup for this game, so they’ll at least be back to full strength on offense.
Seattle enters the game as the top seed in the NFC and having also won six straight. The Seahawks are powered by their elite defense, which smothered the Carolina Panthers last week during the team’s latest win. The Seahawks knew coming into that contest that if they won out, they got the top seed in the conference, and the same remains true — as it does for the 49ers.
Which of these two teams will claim the NFC West and the No. 1 seed in the NFC? We’ll find out soon enough. But before we break down some key storylines, here’s a look at how you can watch the game.
Where to watch 49ers vs. Seahawks
- Date: Saturday, Jan. 3 | Time: 8 p.m. ET
- Location: Levi’s Stadium (Santa Clara, California)
- TV: ABC/ESPN | Stream: Fubo (Try for free)
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Odds: Seahawks -1.5, O/U 47.5 via DraftKings Sportsbook
Key storylines
- Playoff picture. It’s been talked about ad nauseam at this point, but it’s still worth noting: The winner of this game wins both the NFC West and the No. 1 seed in the NFC, along with the first-round bye that comes with said slot. If the Seahawks win, the 49ers can actually drop as low as the No. 6 seed if the Rams beat the Cardinals. But if the Niners win, then the Seahawks will be the No. 5 seed and the Rams will be in the 6 spot.
- 49ers offense. San Francisco’s offense is on fire during its six-game winning streak, and especially across the three games since it returned from a Week 14 bye. Against the Titans, Colts and Bears, the Niners put up at least 430 yards, 28 first downs and 37 points in each game. They’ve averaged 455 yards, 29.3 first downs and 42.3 points per week during those contests. They struggled relative to that explosiveness in the first matchup against the Seahawks, though they did still put up 384 yards and 24 first downs, albeit while scoring only 17 points because they turned the ball over twice.
- Sam Darnold’s turnovers. Darnold leads the NFL in giveaways this season, having thrown 14 interceptions and fumbled 10 times, losing six of them. He’s turned it over at least once in four of the last five games, and twice in each of the last two. The Niners have had to rely on takeaways in recent weeks, forcing two or more in four of the six games during their six-game winning streak. If Darnold can’t take care of the ball, that’s a very bad sign for the Seattle offense.
- CMC’s quests. There have only been four seasons in NFL history where a player has run for over 1,000 yards and caught at least 100 passes. Christian McCaffrey is responsible for two of those seasons, having accomplished the feat in both 2018 and 2019. He can do it again if he catches at least four passes on Sunday. McCaffrey is also 110 receiving yards away from a second career 1,000-1,000 season. That’s only been done three times in history. The 110 receiving yards part seems pretty unlikely, but four catches is well within the realm of possibility.
Prediction
San Francisco won this game early in the season, and that was before the Niners got on the roll they are on right now, where the offense is firing on all cylinders. Couple that with the fact that the Seattle offense hasn’t been nearly as efficient or explosive as of late as it was earlier in the year, and I find it hard to believe that the Seahawks are going to go into Santa Clara and come away with the victory. Especially if George Kittle is good to go, I like the 49ers — even though their defense probably lets Seattle’s offense also get back on track.
Prediction: 49ers 30, Seahawks 27