49ers chase third win vs. Seahawks

San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan knows the challenges of trying to beat an opponent three times in a season after falling short a year ago in the playoffs against the Los Angeles Rams, their NFC West rivals who went on to win the Super Bowl.

After rolling to a 31-10 home victory in mid-November 2021 and surviving overtime for a 27-24 victory at Los Angeles to close the regular season, the 49ers blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and lost 20-17 to the Rams in the NFC title game.

Shanahan’s team opens this postseason with a similar challenge when San Francisco (13-4) hosts the Seattle Seahawks (9-8), another division foe, in a wild-card playoff game Saturday. The 49ers beat the Seahawks 27-7 in the second week of the season and 21-13 a month ago, when rookie quarterback Brock Purdy made his first road start.

“I don’t really look at it as you have to beat someone three times. I just look at it as we have to beat them on Saturday,” Shanahan said. “That’s the game. I don’t think the other games have to do with it.”

Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. Eastern, and Fox will televise the game.

“Once you know each other that well, usually the game becomes simpler,” said Shanahan, who is 4-8 against the Seahawks as San Francisco’s head coach. “You don’t trick each other after that, and usually teams are playing at a higher level by that third time.”

Last year’s NFC title game was decided on a few key plays by San Francisco down the stretch, including a drop on a potential interception, a failed short-yardage conversion and an interception thrown by Jimmy Garoppolo on the final drive with the 49ers attempting a comeback.

Purdy has been on a remarkable run since taking over for the injured Garoppolo, winning all five of his starts to extend San Francisco’s winning streak to 10 games. But the constant for the 49ers this season has been a defense led by edge rusher Nick Bosa and linebacker Fred Warner, which limited Seattle to one offensive touchdown on 20 possessions.

“For the most part we were just behind the sticks a lot,” Seattle quarterback Geno Smith said. “We were behind the chains and we were in second-and-longs and third-and-longs, and that’s not a recipe for winning football for us.”