NFL Hall of Famer Kurt Warner breaks down Round 3 between Seahawks and 49ers

The Seattle Seahawks slogged it out and eventually emerged as the winners of the most-competitive division in NFL history. Their reward? A bye week, followed by two more matchups against their rivals, who happen to be the next-two toughest teams in the league.

To begin, they'll host Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday evening. Presuming Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams take down the Chicago Bears, they will be waiting next in the NFC Championship game.

First things first, though - the Seahawks have to beat the Niners for the second time in two weeks in order to advance to the next round. While their Week 18 was pretty convincing, it's easier said than done to beat a team this good twice in a row.

Here's what Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner had to say about this matchup when he appeared on Seattle Sports radio earlier this week.

Kurt Warner on Seahawks-49ers

"You have to feel good and confident that this is a good matchup for you because of what happened just a couple weeks ago."@kurt13warner talks #Seahawks vs 49ers w/ @BobStelton ahead of Saturday night. 👇 https://t.co/HjtZ99s5Bd pic.twitter.com/rDHqGcRLZ0
— Seattle Sports (@SeattleSports) January 14, 2026

What's changed?

The biggest thing that's changed since the regular season finale is a significant blow to the 49ers in the form of another season-ending injury. This time it was superstar tight end George Kittle, who suffered an Achilles tear in the Wild-Card round against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Losing Kittle is undeniably devastating, but the whole theme of the 49ers' season has been overcoming these massive injuries. Despite losing Nick Bosa and Fred Warner for the season and Brock Purdy missing half of their games, they still managed to finish with a 12-5 record.

That's because the 49ers' true superpower is not on the field but on the sidelines, where they have the game's top offensive mind. The chess match between Shanahan and head coach Mike Macdonald is by far the most-critical individual matchup to follow this weekend.

Brilliant as Shanahan may be, he can't play wide receiver - and the Niners are seriously missing pass-catching firepower in the absence of Deebo Samuel, who they traded - and Brandon Aiyuk - who took his ball and went home. That means the 49ers' offense will have little choice but to lean heavily on Christian McCaffrey as he faces the league's third-best rushing defense.

Kurt Warner on Seahawks-49ers

What's changed?

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