The San Francisco 49ers had a chance to secure rest and home-field advantage in Week 18. A win over the Seattle Seahawks would have delivered the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the NFC playoffs. Instead, a loss in the regular-season finale sends San Francisco on the road for the Wild Card round.

The 49ers will now travel to Philadelphia to face the Eagles on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, and quarterback Brock Purdy made it clear the team is not dwelling on missed opportunities this week.


"I think guys have done a good job of just understanding, yeah, it sucked what had happened, and not capitalizing on a really good opportunity, but we are in the playoffs, and we don't have time to dwell on the negative things," Purdy said on Thursday. "Yes, let's learn from them, but we've gotta move on and flip the page pretty quickly because we're about to go, and our season's on the line now."

That approach will be tested in one of the NFL's most hostile road environments against a well-rested Eagles team that sat many of its starters in Week 18.

"And so, for us to go into a hostile environment, you've gotta be on top of your stuff," Purdy said. "You've gotta have some energy and momentum as a team to go in and believe that you can do your job at a high level. So that's where we've been at. The guys in the locker room all feel that.

"There's definitely a sense of urgency, and it's the playoffs—you're 0-0 moving forward now. And I feel like it's a good thing for us, just obviously, how the season ended—the regular season. But guys are excited for this opportunity."

Fullback Kyle Juszczyk emphasized the importance of making the most of the opportunity in front of the team.


"I spoke a little bit about it to the team yesterday, after practice, about just not taking for granted the opportunity that we do have," Juszczyk said. "So many teams would kill to be in our position right now, to win 12 games, to be in the playoffs. Every one of those teams that are sitting at home would kill to be in this position."

Juszczyk explained that he once took a playoff run for granted during his second NFL season, his first as a starter. That 2014 Baltimore Ravens season felt long and exhausting, and after a postseason loss to the New England Patriots, he assumed he would simply be back the following year.

"And then I went five years without making the playoffs until we did in '19," Juszczyk said. "So, you just truly, truly never know what's going to happen. You don't know what team you're going to be on, you don't know what the guys around you, what's going to happen, injuries, that type of stuff.

"So I think it's really important for us to grasp right now, and understand that there's an opportunity right now, and not try to save anything or fall back on, 'Hey, we'll just be back here next year.'"

The 49ers last faced the Eagles in 2023, a rematch of the previous season's NFC Championship Game. San Francisco won that contest convincingly, 42-19, but Purdy acknowledged that Sunday's matchup presents a different challenge.


"There are some same couple of guys, but with [defensive coordinator] Vic Fangio being there and their scheme being slightly different, it's different," Purdy explained. "So there's that, but also, just the talented players, obviously, that they have are still there.

"And as a whole, I feel like, just who the Eagles are, that sort of still feels the same, just in terms of them being a really good organization and a team that's going to bring it every game. And you've got to be on your best to have a chance against them."

With the postseason underway, Purdy emphasized that the 49ers' focus is firmly on the opportunity in front of them, and not on any missed opportunities this season.

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