The 49ers and Seattle Seahawks are two NFL teams former All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman knows very well, as he played for both organizations across the first 10 years of his 11-season career.
Based on what he has seen from both teams with the 2025 NFL season opener approaching, Sherman believes it will be a tight race to see who wins the NFC West this year — but only one team can come out on top.
“I think [the NFC West] is between the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers,” Sherman told co-host Mitch Eisenstein on Sunday’s episode of “The Richard Sherman Podcast.” “I think the first game will determine a lot … It’s in Seattle. San Francisco’s banged up. You’ve got a lot of young, new receivers. You got your guys though, you got your All-Pros. Tough for me to bet against [the Seahawks] in Seattle, with everything going on and all the [49ers] injuries and all the uncertainty in the D-tackle situation.
“I think Seattle wins the division in a tie, record-wise, with the San Francisco 49ers, but it’s going to be a close tiebreaker. I think they both win 11 games and they’re tied for the division, but the edge goes to the Seattle Seahawks.”
It’s no secret the 49ers have dealt with their fair share of injuries this summer, especially at wide receiver, but it’s clear Sherman still has faith in coach Kyle Shanahan. Meanwhile, Sherman believes the Seahawks also have what it takes to be a contender after watching the team at training camp and seeing how new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak is running things.
Should the 49ers and Seahawks both go 11-6 as Sherman predicted, the divisional tiebreaker would be determined by their head-to-head record — making San Francisco’s season opener against Seattle on Sept. 7 at Lumen Field and its regular-season finale against the Seahawks in Week 18 at Levi’s Stadium all the more important.
If each team wins one of those matchups apiece, the tiebreaker goes to best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division, then best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference, and so on and so forth.
The 49ers, of course, hope to win the NFC West outright. But even though data shows they have the league’s easiest strength of schedule in 2025, nothing truly comes easily in the NFL — especially against a division rival.
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