With a hard-fought 23-19 win over the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday afternoon, the San Francisco 49ers are now set for their third matchup of the season with the NFC West-winning Seattle Seahawks this Saturday night at Lumen Field.
Obviously, no Niners fan is unhappy that Kyle Shanahan and Co. will be playing the Divisional Round for the fifth time in seven seasons. However, there are certainly plenty who are unhappy with the fact that San Francisco has to play Seattle on a short week.
But they really shouldn't be, as it's not as if this scheduling tactic from the NFL is new.
Since the league expanded Super Wild Card Weekend to feature two games on Saturday, three on Sunday, and one on Monday night in the 2021 campaign, the No. 1 seed from each conference has played on Saturday in the Divisional Round every single season.
Every. Single. Season.
So, again, this is nothing new. And honestly, I don't remember San Francisco fans complaining about scheduling when the seventh-seeded Green Bay Packers had a short week to prepare for the top-seeded 49ers in the playoffs following the 2023 regular season.
49ers wouldn't have to worry about a short week had they beaten Seahawks in Week 18
Look, I get the argument everyone's trying to make, as it doesn't seem to make sense that the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Bears, both of whom won their respective Wild Card games this past Saturday, get to play their Divisional Round matchup on Sunday, while the Niners are forced to play the No. 1 seed on Saturday. But at the risk of repeating myself yet again, this isn't new.
And let's get real here: Had the 49ers taken care of business in their winner-take-all matchup with the Seahawks in Week 18 that decided both the NFC West and the No. 1 seed in the conference, we wouldn't be having this conversation, as San Francisco would've gotten to rest up during the Wild Card round, which means that George Kittle doesn't rupture an Achilles.
But for those looking to place blame elsewhere, stop looking at the NFL and direct your anger toward the Packers.
The reason the Niners are being forced to play the Seahawks, of course, is because they're the lowest remaining seed in the NFC at No. 6. But had Green Bay, the No. 7 seed, not blown the 21-6 lead it held going into the fourth quarter of its Wild Card matchup with the second-seeded Chicago Bears, who ultimately scored 25 points in the final frame to take a 31-27 victory, the Divisional Round would have looked different.
Had the Packers won, they would be the ones heading to Seattle on Saturday, while San Francisco would have had a Sunday date in Los Angeles against the fifth-seeded Rams, who escaped with a 34-31 in their Wild Card thriller with the fourth-seeded Carolina Panthers.
But that's obviously not the way things worked out.
And since we brought Green Bay into the mix, remember this: Five years ago, during that aforementioned postseason for the 2021 season, the 49ers were the No. 6 seed and played their Wild Card game on a Sunday, taking a 23-17 road win over the Dallas Cowboys. And just six days later, on Saturday, they went into Lambeau Field and upset Aaron Rodgers and the top-seeded Packers.
So, the precedent is there for this scheduling issue meaning absolutely nothing. Now, the Niners simply have to suck it up and take care of business on Saturday against the Seahawks.