The Seahawks vs. 49ers Week 18 kickoff time is set, ending a long “TBD” wait. Here’s what the timing means for Seattle, San Francisco, and the NFC West.
The Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers finally have clarity on their Week 18 matchup, at least on the kickoff window.
ESPN insider Adam Schefter reported the Seahawks-49ers regular-season finale will kick off at 8 p.m. ET. The game is listed for Sunday, January 4, 2026 in Santa Clara at Levi’s Stadium. The NFL confirmed the news with an official release later.
Key details (as reported)
- Matchup: Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers
- Date: Sunday, January 4, 2026
- Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET
- Location: Levi’s Stadium (Santa Clara, CA
- TV: ESPN/ABC
Why Seahawks-49ers was “TBD” in the first place
This is the exact type of game the NFL likes to hold for the final-week flex window.
Per the league’s published flexible scheduling procedures, Week 18 start times and TV assignments are determined after Week 17 concludes, allowing the NFL to stack the weekend around playoff clinchers, division deciders, and seeding games.
That’s also why you’ll often see teams (and fans booking travel) living in “TBD” purgatory until the last possible moment.
How both teams are trending into Week 18
Seattle is arriving in Santa Clara playing its best football at the most important time.
The Seahawks improved to 13-3 after beating the Carolina Panthers 27-10 on Sunday, extending their winning streak to six straight. Reuters noted Seattle’s defense held Carolina to 139 total yards, while running back Zach Charbonnet rushed for a season-high 110 yards and scored two touchdowns.
San Francisco, meanwhile, has kept itself in the top-seed conversation with some explosive offense of its own. The 49ers beat the Chicago Bears 42-38 on Sunday night, a game that featured a late Brock Purdy touchdown pass to Jauan Jennings with just over two minutes remaining, before the defense held on at the finish.
And this isn’t the first time recently the 49ers’ offense has looked like a problem: Purdy entered the game after he threw a career-high five touchdown passes in a 48-27 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
Quick recap: what happened in the first Seahawks-49ers matchup
These teams already played once this season, and it was a reminder how thin the margin can be in this rivalry.
In the September 7, 2025 opener at Lumen Field, San Francisco beat Seattle 17-13 on a late touchdown, a deflected pass caught by tight end Jake Tonges with 1:34 remaining.
That first meeting wasn’t a blowout or a runaway. It was the kind of one-score game that comes down to a final drive, one snap, one bounce, which is exactly the recipe the NFL is betting on when it puts a Week 18 matchup into a featured window.
What the timing means for Seattle and San Francisco
If this game lands in the prime-time window, it’s usually a signal the league believes the stakes will be real, and in this case, they are.
Seattle enters Week 18 with a 13-3 record, while San Francisco is 12-4, with the Los Angeles Rams also sitting at 11-4 in the NFC West standings.The stakes cannot be higher for a regular season finale: A NFC West title and even NFC No. 1 seed pressure spot, depending on how the final results shake out.
That’s the “why today?” hook: not just a time change, but a last-weekend spotlight game that could swing the division and seeding.
What to watch next
The business end of this update is simple: the Seahawks and 49ers are headed for a prime-time finale, and the league is treating it like a game that could decide something big.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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