RENTON, Wash. (AP) — For the Seattle Seahawks to host another playoff game and move closer to the fourth Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, they will have to dispose of a familiar foe.
Very familiar.
The top-seeded Seahawks (14-3) host the San Francisco 49ers (13-5) in the NFC’s divisional round on Saturday night. It'll be the second meeting in three weeks between the NFC West rivals and the third time they have squared off in the playoffs.
Seattle won the division and secured the No. 1 seed with a dominant 13-3 win over Brock Purdy and the host 49ers on Jan. 3. That was the lowest scoring output for the Niners since they lost 23-3 to Carolina in coach Kyle Shanahan's debut in 2017.
Purdy said San Francisco will have to make adjustments against the NFL's top-ranked scoring defense.
“We just played them two weeks ago, so looking back at the other game plan as well and having it sort of fresh in your mind,” Purdy said, “picking it up where you left off and obviously making some changes where you need to. But yeah, it feels like we just played them.”
Seahawks defensive lineman Leonard Williams recognizes it will be a challenge to slow down San Francisco’s 10th-ranked scoring offense, even with Seattle's recent success against the Niners.
“They’ve clearly shown that they have a good offense,” Williams said. “But at the same time, I trust our team.”
Seattle finished the season with seven straight wins to finish with a franchise-record 14 victories. However, one of its losses came at home against San Francisco in Week 1.
And the Seahawks' offense had some fresh concerns on Thursday when quarterback Sam Darnold injured his left oblique in practice. He was listed as questionable but said he's confident he'll play.
Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald doesn't expect to see much that's different about the 49ers, given that they've only played once since the last meeting.
“You’re really going off how you felt like you played the game, things you did well, maybe where you think they might take things,” Macdonald said.
The 49ers played their final two games of the regular season with one fewer day of rest than normal, including the Week 18 loss to Seattle. They're in the same situation this week against well-rested Seattle after playing their wild-card game on Sunday.
Coach Kyle Shanahan had lobbied for a Sunday game this week to no avail, leading to the team limiting practices and changing meeting times to give players as much rest as possible.
“We can’t control that kind of stuff,” linebacker Eric Kendricks said. “At the end of the day, we’re playing meaningful football. We want to play meaningful football. These games mean a lot. We know what’s at stake, so we better get ready for it.”
Niners wide receiver Ricky Pearsall has not played since Dec. 28 due to a knee injury, but returned to practice this week in a limited capacity. A return by Pearsalll would be a boost for San Francisco, especially after All-Pro tight end George Kittle tore his right Achilles tendon in the 49ers’ 23-19 win at Philadelphia.
Macdonald and the Seahawks expect to see Pearsall in the lineup.
“They have a lot of talented receivers, but he’s definitely one of them,” Macdonald said. “He definitely complements the rest of the guys well in terms of what he does in his skill set and how they use him.”
Macdonald, who calls the Seahawks' defensive plays, got the best of Shanahan in the last meeting, but the Niners coach — long regarded as an elite play-caller — out-schemed Philadelphia defensive coordinator Vic Fangio last week.
Seattle allowed a combined 20 points to San Francisco in two meetings this season. Macdonald also beat Shanahan in 2023 when he was Baltimore's defensive coordinator and the Ravens intercepted Purdy four times.
“They have a very good scheme that’s very balanced and they can hit you in any way,” Shanahan said. “I think the personnel not only is talented for any scheme, but is perfectly talented for their scheme. I think they’ve been playing with, not the exact same group, but close to the same group, for two straight years. When you have a talented group with a very good scheme that’s been playing together for two years, they get pretty good.”
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AP Sports Writer Josh Dubow in Santa Clara, California, contributed to this report.
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