It looked like the 49ers got a huge third-down conversion with a diving catch by Ricky Pearsall. The officials originally ruled it a catch, but assisted replay ruled the ball hit the ground. San Francisco opted to forego a fourth-and-6, and instead brought out Eddy Pineiro for another field goal. This time he connected from 56 yards out to make it a 17-6 game. Once again it’ll be on the 49ers’ defense to get a stop with 4:32 left in the first half.

San Francisco will need touchdowns eventually, but they got three much-needed points after Seattle’s touchdown to go ahead 17-0. The 49ers used 10 plays to go 43 yards and ended their series with a 40-yard field goal from kicker Eddy Pineiro to make it 17-3. Now it’s up to the 49ers defense to get a stop where they don’t give up points.

San Francisco trails 17-0 thanks to poor kick coverage, some dreadful short-yardage execution, and a turnover. The 49ers were going to struggle to win with one of those things. All three happened in the first 15 minutes. Hard to see the 49ers scoring enough to overcome a 17-point hole.

The 49ers can’t get out of their own way. A turnover on downs led to a field goal, then Jake Tonges’ fumble led to a touchdown thanks in part to a horrendous pass interference penalty on rookie safety Marques Sigle. He was way too early in coverage and hit Rashid Shaheed to give the Seahawks a first-and-goal. Sam Darnold hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba two plays later. It’s 17-0 with 1:50 to go in the first quarter, but this game is over.

The nightmare continues.

This looks a lot like Week 18, save for the Seattle touchdown on the opening kickoff. The Seahawks got a short field to start their first series and went 44 yards on 11 plays with the 49ers defense holding up on a third-and-1 deep in the red zone. Dee Winters flew in to stop Zach Charbonnet for a loss to force the Seahawks into a 31-yard field goal. It’s 10-0, Seahawks.

San Francisco got going a bit offensively to start Saturday’s game and had a third-and-short at the Seattle 41. They were stuffed on their third-and-short, leading to a fourth-and-1 that failed spectacularly as the club tried an option run with Kyle Juszczyk. Seattle’s offense starts its first drive at their own 43.

Nightmare start for the 49ers. Rashid Shaheed went 97 yards on the opening kickoff for a touchdown to put the Seahawks ahead 7-0.

Darnold did not come out for normal warm ups according to reports from Lumen Field, but he wasn’t on the team’s list of inactive players which means he’ll suit up and start for Seattle in their first playoff game of the year.

This is great news for San Francisco. Linebacker Luke Gifford is also officially active which should help the 49ers special teams units. Here’s who won’t suit up Saturday:

• S Ji’Ayir Brown
• RB Isaac Guerendo
• WR Jordan Watkins
• DL Kevin Givens
• DL Robert Beal Jr.
• OT Brandon Parker
• DT Sebastian Valdez

What time does 49ers vs. Seahawks start?  

• Date: Saturday, January 17
• Time: 5:00 pm PT
• Where: Lumen Field, Seattle

What TV channel is 49ers vs. Seahawks on today?  

• TV: Fox
• Streaming: NFL+
• How to watch online: FuboTV (try it free!)

49ers vs. Seahawks predictions

• The experts lean heavily toward Seattle on Sunday with only eight of our 40 picking San Francisco. This is similar to last week from the standpoint of the 49ers offense needing to piece together enough points to make up for whatever their ailing defense is going to give up. Perhaps we get an inspired performance from that unit and the 49ers again hold Seattle to 13 points, but even if the 49ers improve offensively from their Week 18 loss, it stands to reason the Seahawks will, too. Seahawks 31, 49ers 17