49ers know what awaits on road in Philadelphia. But will weather be a factor?
Whether they are lighting things on fire in celebration of winning a Super Bowl or reacting so intensely their behaviors get studied by academics, Philadelphia Eagles fans are known for their passion — and not being the most accommodating to road teams and their fans.
The San Francisco 49ers, of course, know what type of atmosphere to expect in Philadelphia late in a football season. They’ve gone to Lincoln Financial Field for marquee games in the regular and postseason twice since 2023, and will return on Sunday in the Wild Card Round of the NFL playoffs.
The unique atmosphere is a part of the intrigue of a matchup between the No. 3 and No. 6 seeds, with San Francisco falling to a Wild Card spot after losing last Saturday’s pivotal game against the Seattle Seahawks for the No. 1 seed, which carried with it a first-round bye and home field advantage leading up to the Super Bowl.
The path ahead for the 49ers is considerably more difficult with the team needing to likely win two road playoff games for a chance at playing Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium.
“Always, with every place you go, it always starts with crowd noise,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Any time you talk about the fans and all that stuff. To me, that’s more fun. I don’t think it affects the guys with helmets on who are out in between the (white lines). It might affect family members if they choose to go in the stands. But that’s really irrelevant in the game. It has to do with how loud their crowd is and they’re going to be going. You gotta give them a reason to be quiet and if not, it’s an extremely challenging place to play. You’re not going to be able to hear, and we got to expect that.”
One of the most traumatic moments of 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy’s still-young career came in Philadelphia. He tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow in the first quarter of the NFC Championship Game in January 2023, after his rookie regular season in 2022 when he first became starter. The 49ers lost that game 31-7. Purdy had surgery and recovered in time to prepare for the following season, when he helped the team reach the Super Bowl.
A highpoint of the 2023 regular season: a thumping, 42-19 win in Philadelphia that gave the 49ers a sense of closure after believing they would have beaten the Eagles in the previous NFC title game had Purdy not gotten hurt. San Francisco went on to lose Super Bowl LVIII to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Eagles are reigning Super Bowl champs after defeating the Chiefs last season.
“Obviously, I’m thankful to be able to have healed up from the injury, go to the Super Bowl and have three more seasons after what had happened there,” Purdy told reporters this week. “But you know, more than anything, it’s our 2025 season and trying to finish strong and go in and compete against a new team, scheme kind of feel. That’s where my mindset’s at with that.
“Obviously, we know Philly from being there and their environment, their fans, all the things. It’s getting prepared for that right now rather than having flashbacks or anything like that. I already went there in 2023 and played after what had happened in ‘22. So, I feel like that’s out of the way and ready to move on.”
The 49ers had a 7-2 record in road games this season while the Eagles went 5-3 at home. San Francisco’s last road loss was Oct. 26 against the Houston Texans.
Will the Philadelphia weather be a factor?
The 49ers and Seahawks caught a break last week and played their game without rain despite wet conditions in Santa Clara leading into the game.
The same appears to be true in Philadelphia ahead of Sunday. The game kicks off at 4:30 p.m. local time just before a 4:55 p.m. sunset.
The National Weather Service on Sunday expects chance of rain showers before 1 p.m., then a “slight chance of rain and snow showers.” Weather service forecasts show the high temperature near 50 degrees with breezy winds expected.
The Weather Channel predicts a high of 46 degrees with a low of 30 — and an 11% chance of precipitation in the afternoon before a 1% chance in the evening. Wind is expected between 10 and 20 mph.
In other words, it might be a bit breezy, but it would appear the 49ers and Eagles will get ideal conditions for a playoff football in January.
This story was originally published January 8, 2026 at 2:25 PM.
