49ers playoff updates: Start time, odds and why celebs like Jon Stewart are jovial
The 49ers are not happy about having a short week to prepare for playing the Seattle Seahawks on the road in the divisional round on Saturday, but at least they won’t be the first game of the day.
The NFL announced on Monday night that kickoff between San Francisco and Seattle will be 5 p.m. Pacific, after the Buffalo Bills play the Broncos in Denver for the afternoon game at 1:30 p.m.
The start time means the 49ers will be playing their fifth consecutive game under the lights and on national television. The streak began with ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” against the Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 22, continuing with NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” vs. the Chicago Bears Dec. 28.
They were again on ESPN against the Seahawks in the regular season finale Jan. 3. Sunday’s wild card win over Philadelphia was shown by Fox’s top broadcast crew featuring Tom Brady and Kevin Burkhardt. The game began at 4:30 p.m. and the sun set before 5 p.m.
Brady and Burkhardt will be on the call again Saturday for the 49ers-Seahawks game. Initial weather forecasts for Seattle on Saturday predict clear conditions with high temperatures in the low 50s and lows in the mid-30s.
49ers begin week as heavy underdogs
Last week, the money poured in on the Eagles causing the line to move from 3.5 points at the start of the week to 5.5 or 6.0 points by kickoff. Of course, the 49ers not only covered but the won the game outright, moving to 12-6 against the spread (2-4 as underdogs and 10-2 as favorites), according to Pro Football Reference.
The 49ers opened the week as bigger underdogs against the top-seeded Seahawks, who throttled San Francisco 13-3 at Levi’s Stadium two weeks ago. As of Tuesday morning, Seattle was a 6.5-point favorite on BetMGM, 7.5-point favorite on DraftKings and 7-point favorite on FanDuel.
The reasoning is pretty straightforward despite the teams splitting their two matchups on the season. The recency of the Jan. 3 game will certainly favor the Seahawks, particularly since that game was in Santa Clara while Saturday’s will be back at Lumen Field.
Additionally, the Seahawks will be coming off their bye week and are far healthier than San Francisco, who will be without George Kittle (Achilles), Nick Bosa (ACL tear) and likely Fred Warner, who is recovering from his fractured and dislocated ankle.
Warner has, however, made strides on the practice field while he aims to return at some point during this postseason.
Celebrities back 49ers, make fun of Eagles
Actress Julia Roberts wasn’t born into 49ers fandom, but the Georgia native has adopted them as her team while currently living in San Francisco.
She was caught on the Golden Globes red carpet on Sunday watching the end of the 49ers’ win over the Eagles, revealing that she’s taken to Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy’s club.
Television personality Jon Stewart in his latest appearance hosting “The Daily Show” on Monday, used the Eagles’ losing to break up a bit about negative headlines ranging from the ICE shooting in Minnesota and the U.S. involvement in Venezuela, Iran, Greenland, Cuba, Mexico and Colombia.
He then mentioned Philadelphia, with a picture of Christian McCaffrey being tackled by an Eagles defender.
Stewart, a New York sports fan, said, “Not all the news was bad,” when the graphic was shown.
