Who will the 49ers face in NFL playoffs? Next several hours of games will decide it
The San Francisco 49ers had a chance Saturday night, if they could defeat the Seattle Seahawks at home, to finish atop the NFC standings, earn the No. 1 seed in the playoffs and enjoy a first-round playoff bye plus the right to stay at Levi’s Stadium.
The 49ers instead sputtered to a 13-3 defeat at the hands of the Seahawks, who finished the year 14-3. That means San Francisco (12-5) will end up as either the No. 5 or No. 6 seed and must face the No. 3 or No. 4 seed in next weekend’s Wild Card round.
There are four potential opponents the 49ers could face, and Sunday Night Football has no bearing on it. That means the 49ers will learn where they’re headed following Sunday’s slate of games kicking off at 10 a.m. and 1:25 p.m. Pacific time.
The four possible opponents: the Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears, Carolina Panthers or Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Here are the circumstances in which the 49ers would be matched up with each of those teams.
49ers as No. 6 seed
The 49ers will be the No. 6 seed if the Los Angeles Rams win vs. the Arizona Cardinals (1:25 p.m. start). The Cardinals are 3-13, tied with the New York Giants for the worst record in the NFC entering the final game.
At No. 3 Eagles: if the Bears win vs. the Detroit Lions (1:25 p.m. start) or the Eagles lose vs. the Washington Commanders (1:25 p.m.)
At No. 3 Bears: if the Bears lose or tie vs. the Lions and the Eagles win vs. the Commanders.
49ers as No. 5 seed
The 49ers will be the No. 5 seed if the Rams lose vs. the Cardinals, which would represent a major upset.
Here’s where things get weird: The NFC South title, and with it the No. 4 seed in the NFC playoffs, will go to either the Panthers or Buccaneers, both of whom finished with a losing record of 8-9 after the Buccaneers beat the Panthers on Saturday.
Because of tie-breaking procedures, the division winner between the Panthers and Buccaneers will be decided in what is otherwise a meaningless game played Sunday between the other two NFC South teams: the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints, who play at 10 a.m. in Atlanta.
So the 49ers would play…
At No. 4 Panthers: if the Falcons win vs. the Saints.
At No. 4 Buccaneers: if the Saints win or tie vs. the Falcons.
Who would the 49ers want to play?
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan after Saturday’s loss told reporters his team was going to “embrace” taking the hard route after missing the No. 1 seed and its accompanying bye week.
But the honest and simplest answer is that the 49ers would probably prefer to face the Panthers, who are coming off a 16-14 loss in a win-and-in road game against Tampa Bay. The 49ers took a convincing 20-9 victory over Carolina in November and did so despite a three-interception day by quarterback Brock Purdy.
The Buccaneers defeated San Francisco, 30-19, but that came long ago in October, when Mac Jones was starting at quarterback in place of the injured Purdy. Tampa Bay also looked like a very different team then; that win put the Bucs at 5-1 at the time, and they’ve gone 3-8 since.
The 49ers didn’t play the Eagles this season. But the prospect of facing quarterback Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley, who are reportedly resting along with all other Eagles starters in their final regular season game, is a daunting one given San Francisco’s struggle against the run game. Those struggles continued in a 13-3 loss to Seattle that was more lopsided than the final score might suggest.
Finally, there’s the Bears, whom the 49ers defeated 42-38 in a shootout at Levi’s Stadium one week ago. Conditions figure to be far different at Soldier Field, with early weather forecasts showing possibilities of rain or even snow.
When would the 49ers play?
The NFL playoff schedule won’t be announced until the end of the regular season, after Sunday Night Football. Wild Card games are played next Saturday, Sunday and Monday (Jan. 10-12).
It’s likely, though, that if the 49ers matched up against Tampa Bay or Carolina that that game would play next Saturday, Jan. 10, because all three of those teams played this past Saturday for Week 18. Scheduling it that way would allow more of the remaining playoff teams to play on normal rest.
The Bee’s Chris Biderman contributed to this story.
This story was originally published January 4, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
