The San Francisco 49ers were awfully close to being able to avoid the Wild Card round of the playoffs, only to lose a disheartening Week 18 home tilt to the Seattle Seahawks, who not only clinched the NFC West away from the Niners but also took home the No. 1 seed in the conference's playoff picture.
As such, the Hawks get a first-round bye, while head coach Kyle Shanahan's squad now has to be the road team despite winning 12 games during the regular season.
And San Francisco's opening-round opponent is turning into something of a hated rival in recent years.