There will be no fairy tale home stadium Super Bowl for the San Francisco 49ers this year, after they got their doors blown out 41-6 in a playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Niners’ largest defeat of the Coach Kyle Shanahan era.
Our storybook hopes that the San Francisco 49ers could be playing in next month’s Super Bowl right here in Levi’s Stadium were ripped from our hearts Saturday night. The Niners suffered through a nationally televised 41-6 playoff elimination loss to the Seattle Seahawks, once again scoring zero touchdowns against Seattle, just like in the regular season finale against the Seahawks two weeks ago. Last night's 41-6 loss represents the 49ers’ largest loss of the Mike Shanahan era.
SEAHAWKS OPENING KICKOFF TD RETURN VS THE 49ERS!
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 18, 2026
Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady have the call for Fox. 🏈💥🎙️ #NFL #NFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/iCGLsF2AKC
The 49ers were clowned up and down the field from the very opening kickoff. Seattle’s Rashid Shaheed took that opening kickoff 95 yards for a Seahawks touchdown, and it was 7-0 Seattle just 13 seconds into this game.
Jake Tonges just shit the bedpic.twitter.com/2UhxjlVbBw
— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) January 18, 2026
The hits against the 49ers just kept coming, as this fumble by backup tight end Jake Tonges came right on the heels of a Niners blowing a fourth-down attempt where fullback Kyle Jusczcyk himself fumbled the ball, too.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba doing what he did all year long pic.twitter.com/pD7a2jLWKk
— NFL Fantasy Football (@NFLFantasy) January 18, 2026
That turnover led to another touchdown from Seahawks standout receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and suddenly this contest was 17-0 Seattle while it was still just the first quarter.
Kenneth Walker DOMINATED in the playoffs for Seattle
— Daily MSU (@daily_msu) January 18, 2026
•19 carries
•116 yards
•3 TDs pic.twitter.com/zmkRJry9S9
A pair of second quarter Eddy Pinero field goals put the Niners on the scoreboard and made it 17-6, though those two measly field goals were the 49ers’ only highlights of the night. Meanwhile, Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III was a human highlight reel throughout the night, with an additional touchdown that would render this game 24-6 at halftime.
Kenneth Walker with another! Seahawks lead 34-6. Straight belt to ass pic.twitter.com/AaKFeu38qT
— eje (@UtdEje) January 18, 2026
It would only get worse. We saw more of the same in the second half, when Walker ran roughshod over the Niners, running this thing up to its 41-6 final score.
So the 49ers will not be playing in Super Bowl 60 in Santa Clara. That honor will fall on either the Seahawks, the Denver Broncos, the Chicago Bears, the Houston Texans, the LA Rams, or the New England Patriots.
Instead, the 49ers will spend the next seven months of the off-season wondering how good they could have been if they still had injured superstars like George Kittle, Nick Bosa, and Fred Warner. Those guys are all under contract and expected to be healthy next year.
Which means there still appears to be a very good future for these San Francisco 49ers, even if they did endure a painful season-ending playoff loss on Saturday night.
Related: 49ers Get Stymied by Seattle Seahawks 13-3, Now Must Hit the Road for the Playoffs [SFist]
Image: SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JANUARY 17: Rashid Shaheed #22 of the Seattle Seahawks returns the opening kickoff for a touchdown during the first quarter against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Divisional Playoff game at Lumen Field on January 17, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
