Seahawks favored to beat injury-hit 49ers in NFC divisional rematch

Cbssports: The Seattle Seahawks, the NFC's No. 1 seed, will host the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC divisional round Saturday, Jan. 17 at Lumen Field after a 13-3 Week 18 victory over San Francisco.

San Francisco arrives hampered by injuries — All-Pro tight end George Kittle suffered a season-ending torn Achilles in the 49ers' 23-19 wild-card win at the Eagles, and All-Pro Nick Bosa and All-Pro Fred Warner also will be unavailable. The 49ers have the most player games missed among playoff teams this season at 287, will have flown 3,000 miles and are playing on a short week while Seattle had 13 days of rest; teams in that spot are 5-10 since 2002, though the No. 6 seed Washington Commanders did pull an upset in the same situation last season. Seattle enters with the NFL's top scoring defense (17.2 points per game), Will Sam Darnold has struggled with turnovers this season (an NFL-most 20 turnovers), and Brock Purdy has been strong since returning from injury but has not beaten a top-three scoring defense in five tries as San Francisco's full-time starter.

The preview predicts the matchup will resemble Seattle's Week 18 result and favors the Seahawks: pick Seahawks 24, 49ers 16. Betting lines listed earlier were Seahawks -7, O/U 45.5 via DraftKings Sportsbook; the preview's final projection showed Seahawks -7, Under 44.5.

Key Topics

Sports, Seattle Seahawks, Sam Darnold, Brock Purdy, George Kittle