Some more details have been reported about how 49ers defensive lineman Keion White ended up being shot in the ankle early Monday morning in the Mission District.

When we first heard the news about Niners DL Keion White being hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the ankle Monday, we did not know where the shooting took place — just that it was at a party in the Mission District following the Super Bowl.

Now we know that the incident occurred at or outside a party that the 27-year-old White himself was throwing at Dahlia, the tequila-focused bar/club that was formerly known as the Armory Club, at 1799 Mission Street. According to reports from police and witnesses gathered by the SF Standard, the private party involved strippers and/or adult entertainers, and was "downstairs" in the venue.

SFist notes that Dahlia offers a basement-level Champagne Room that can be rented for private parties, so that was likely the party room in question.

The shooting occurred around 4 am Monday, and it appears the party was still raging at that hour. Per the Standard, Atlanta-based rapper Lil Baby, aka Dominique Jones, had arrived with his entourage and tried to get into the private event — in the hours after Lil Baby was performing at this Sunday night event at The Grand nightclub in SoMa.

A witness reportedly told police that they saw White get into an argument with the rapper, possibly because he was refusing to let Lil Baby and his group in to the downstairs party. The witness further said that they went upstairs, to the main level of Dahlia, to seek help from staff. It was not long after this that a shot or two were fired, though it's not clear where the shots came from. The witness returned to the basement and found White shot in the leg, and White was reportedly uncooperative with police when asked who had shot him.

Arriving police told the Standard that they saw topless women gathering dollar bills on the bar when they entered the room.

White underwent surgery on his ankle on Monday, and KTVU reported, via a Niners spokesperson, that he was out of surgery Monday night and the procedure was successful — but no timeline for his recovery was provided.

This is the only act of violence we've learned of so far from Super Bowl Weekend in San Francisco, and Mayor Daniel Lurie issued a statement Monday night in response.

"Any violent incident in our city is unacceptable, and I’m hoping Keion recovers quickly," Lurie said. "I’ve spoken with SFPD and 49ers leadership — we are all grateful to our SFPD officers for their quick response. As always, I will continue working with San Francisco law enforcement to ensure our neighborhoods and our residents are safe."

No arrests have been made, and anyone with information is asked to call the SFPD tip line at 415-575-4444, or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with “SFPD.” Tipsters can remain anonymous.

Top image: Keion White #56 of the San Francisco 49ers in the locker room before the game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on November 2, 2025 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The 49ers defeated the Giants 34-24. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)

• Richard Tillman, the clearly troubled brother of the late NFL player and Army Ranger Pat Tillman, has pleaded guilty in federal court to setting fire to a San Jose post office last summer. Tillman had appeared to be unraveling in the days and weeks before the arson attack, and posted to social media about "taking down the system." [KPIX]
• 49ers defensive lineman Keion White was shot in the ankle following some sort of altercation at a San Francisco nightclub after the Super Bowl. The address and name of the nightclub have been withheld, but it was apparently in the Mission District, and the altercation occurred around 4 am, when the club was likely closing. [ABC 7 / Chronicle]
• A curious moment went local viral in which state Senator Scott Wiener appeared to snub a handshake from SF Mayor Daniel Lurie on Friday during a ribbon-cutting event at the Castro Theatre. Wiener shrugs it off as entirely "unintentional," saying, "There were like 10,000 things going on at the moment. I like the Mayor a lot [and] support him. We shake hands all the time..." [KRON4]
• A 70-year-old man who was arrested by police in San Pablo Saturday night after refusing to leave the San Pablo Lytton Casino, and after getting handcuffed by security staff there, suffered a medical emergency in police custody not long after and died. [Chronicle]

National:

• Bay Area Congressman Ro Khanna was one of two lawmakers to review the undredacted Epstein Files today. Khanna says that the documents likely incriminate six new men, including one who is "pretty high up" in a foreign government, and another prominent individual. [Axios]
• How many people really tuned into that Kid Rock-led, Turning Point USA-sponsored alternative Halftime Show? It appears the online broadcast got 6.1M concurrent viewers, while the actual Halftime Show with Bad Bunny likely had well over 100 million viewers. [New York Times]
• After rupturing her ACL a little over a week ago, Olympic Gold medalist skier Lindsey Vonn says she has "no regrets" after breaking her leg in a crash on Saturday. [CNN]

Video:

• Vanessa Diaz, a Loyola Marymount University professor, unpacks the cultural impact of Bad Bunny's Super Bowl Halftime Show, for PBS News Hour.

Top image: Richard Tillman via Facebook

After knocking the 49ers out of the playoffs, the Seattle Seahawks rubbed it in even harder after winning the Super Bowl Sunday night on the Niners' home field, hotboxing the 49ers locker room with the awful smell of cigars.

Even though the Super Bowl is always played on a neutral field, there is still a designated home team and away team, for coin-flip and uniform choice purposes. The 49ers’ NFC West rival Seattle Seahawks were considered the home team, and because of that, they used the Niners’ locker room for Sunday night's Super Bowl.

And after they won the Super Bowl 29-13 on the 49ers’ home field, the Seahawks were hardly gracious guests. As seen in the video below, a number of Seahawks blazed up and smoked cigars in the 49ers locker room, a further insult to their division foe 49ers.  

“We love this field. We had a good year on this field,” Seahawks safety Julian Love told the Bay Area News Group. “Four weeks ago, we had cigars in this stadium. We didn’t have to travel too far and were familiar with the surroundings so we felt good today.”

“It’s Lumen South today,” Love also said. “The 12s showed up in full force. Super Bowl is crazy so I appreciate the people that spent their hard-earned money to attend.”

This “Lumen South” reference is a play on how the 49ers refer to the LA Rams’ SoFi Stadium as “Levi’s South.” That seems justified, though, because so many 49ers fans typically pack the Rams’ stadium that they outnumber actual Rams fans. But the 49ers have never had that problem with Seahawks fans taking over Levi’s.

But still, this Seattle team has won nine of their last 14 games at Levi’s Stadium.

It was not the first time that the Seattle Seahawks smoked cigars in Levi's Stadium. As the Bay Area News Group reminds us, “Seattle, of course, broke out victory cigars in Levi’s Stadium’s other locker room, in the northwest corner, after their 13-3 win on January 3.”

Related: 49ers’ Season Ends in Complete Destruction With 41-6 Playoff Loss to Seattle Seahawks [SFist]

Image: SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 08: Patrick O'Connell #52 of the Seattle Seahawks celebrates in the locker room after defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium on February 08, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)

The 49ers might get their 2026 season opener in the prime-time Thursday Night Football slot. But the game will be in Melbourne, Australia, which is about a 16-hour flight each way, and Niners players are none too thrilled.

NFL fans (and especially players) generally hate Thursday Night Football. That is, with the exception of the Week 1 opening night game, because we’ve been jonesing for that shit all off-season and we’ll take it any way we can get it. And that Week 1 Thursday Night Football game may be shaping up to be 49ers-Rams, as KRON4 reports that the 49ers and Rams will play an international game in Melbourne, Australia.

Not long after that announcement dropped Thursday, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco confirmed that game would be Week 1, and might even be the Week 1 Thursday Night Football game. “Time and date is TBA,” Maiocco tweeted. “It seems because of the 16-hour flight to Melbourne, the best way this works is if it’s the season-opener on the Thursday of Week 1."  

Fair enough, but it also might be the special Friday night Week 1 game. Remember, this past season, the Chiefs and Chargers played a Friday night Week 1 opener in Sao Paolo, Brazil. So the Rams and Niners playing on Friday night in Week 1 in Australia would make sense too.

But it doesn't make sense to some 49ers players, who are not at all pleased with the prospect of a 16-hour flight (each way) to Australia.

“That’s not fair. Then the NFL, I feel, is doing us a disservice,” 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk told the Bay Area News Group. “Because if we’re going to talk about health and safety, to do two international games like that is almost like playing three games in 13 days.”

Running back Christian McCaffrey was slightly more diplomatic.

“Australia is pretty far,” McCaffrey told the News Group. “I’d love to see how the schedule would work. Transparently, that might be a little too far.”

You may have noticed that Juszczyk mentioned “two international games.” That’s because it’s been long-rumored that the Niners will play another international game in Mexico City in the 2026 season, and team CEO Jed York basically confirmed as much this week in a Super Bowl press conference.

"We will most likely give up a home game this season to play abroad, and Mexico is always No. 1 on my list,” York told reporter Emilio León of Imagen Sports, per the News Group.

To clarify, the 49ers would give up a home game in order to be the “home team” in a Mexico game. The Rams are giving up a home game in order to be the “home team” in the Melbourne, Australia game. And that’s probably fine by the Rams, as so many Niners fans pack their home stadium for Rams-49ers games in LA that people routinely refer to the Rams’ SoFi Stadium as “Levi’s South.”

Related: 49ers Get Glorious 23-19 Playoff Win In Nailbiter Over Philadelphia Eagles [SFist]

Image: SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 09: A San Francisco 49ers fan reacts during the third quarter against the Los Angeles Rams at Levi's Stadium on November 09, 2025 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

• Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said federal agents shot another protester Saturday morning in Minneapolis, but no further information was given. [CBS]
• John Brodie, the legendary San Francisco 49ers quarterback who played a record-breaking 17 seasons from 1957 to 1973 and led the team to its first NFC West titles in a 1970–73 three-peat, died Friday at age 90. [Bay Area News Group]
• Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted an image on X Thursday that had been manipulated to make it look like Minnesota protester Nekima Levy Armstrong was crying as she was being arrested. [NBC News]

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

There will be no fairy tale home stadium Super Bowl for the San Francisco 49ers this year, after they got their doors blown out 41-6 in a playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Niners’ largest defeat of the Coach Kyle Shanahan era.

Our storybook hopes that the San Francisco 49ers could be playing in next month’s Super Bowl right here in Levi’s Stadium were ripped from our hearts Saturday night. The Niners suffered through a nationally televised 41-6 playoff elimination loss to the Seattle Seahawks, once again scoring zero touchdowns against Seattle, just like in the regular season finale against the Seahawks two weeks ago. Last night's 41-6 loss represents the 49ers’ largest loss of the Mike Shanahan era.

The 49ers were clowned up and down the field from the very opening kickoff. Seattle’s Rashid Shaheed took that opening kickoff 95 yards for a Seahawks touchdown, and it was 7-0 Seattle just 13 seconds into this game.

The hits against the 49ers just kept coming, as this fumble by backup tight end Jake Tonges came right on the heels of a Niners blowing a fourth-down attempt where fullback Kyle Jusczcyk himself fumbled the ball, too.

That turnover led to another touchdown from Seahawks standout receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and suddenly this contest was 17-0 Seattle while it was still just the first quarter.

A pair of second quarter Eddy Pinero field goals put the Niners on the scoreboard and made it 17-6, though those two measly field goals were the 49ers’ only highlights of the night. Meanwhile, Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III was a human highlight reel throughout the night,  with an additional touchdown that would render this game 24-6 at halftime.

It would only get worse. We saw more of the same in the second half, when Walker ran roughshod over the Niners, running this thing up to its 41-6 final score.

So the 49ers will not be playing in Super Bowl 60 in Santa Clara. That honor will fall on either the Seahawks, the Denver Broncos, the Chicago Bears, the Houston Texans, the LA Rams, or the New England Patriots.

Instead, the 49ers will spend the next seven months of the off-season wondering how good they could have been if they still had injured superstars like George Kittle, Nick Bosa, and Fred Warner. Those guys are all under contract and expected to be healthy by next season.

Which means there still appears to be a very good future for these San Francisco 49ers, even if they did endure a painful season-ending playoff loss on Saturday night.

Related: 49ers Get Stymied by Seattle Seahawks 13-3, Now Must Hit the Road for the Playoffs [SFist]

Image: SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JANUARY 17: Rashid Shaheed #22 of the Seattle Seahawks returns the opening kickoff for a touchdown during the first quarter against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Divisional Playoff game at Lumen Field on January 17, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

The San Francisco 49ers knocked off the defending world champion Eagles in an old-time, bare-knuckled cold January playoff game, with a wild and wooly trick play helping deliver the win.

Sunday was the San Francisco 49ers’ first NFL playoff game since that day in early 2024 when they lost the lost the Super Bowl. And the Niners were not favored to win Sunday against the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. But they outmaneuvered the Eagles for 23-19 playoff win on Philly’s home turf that sets these surging Niners up for a Divisional Round playoff showdown with the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday.

The 49ers and Eagles wrestled in a smashmouth defensive battle all afternoon, and it wasn’t over ‘til the Niners’ defense stopped Philadelphia's last-gasp fourth-down attempt in the game’s final minute. And listen to those Philly fans boo!

Early on in this thing, both teams appeared primed to just score touchdowns all day. Check out the above clip which captures both of Demarcus Robinson’s most outstanding catches on the 49ers’ first drive, one of which was a touchdown.

Eagles stars Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barley were also running wild right out of the gate, and tight end Dallas Goedert notched two touchdowns (plus the Eagles kicked a field goal). Though then the game turned into a defensive slogfest that saw the 49ers down 16-10 at halftime.

Worse yet, tight end George Kittle suffered what appears to be a torn right Achilles in the second quarter. So that man will not be playing any more football this season.

Yet the 49ers would break this gritty stalemate with some electrifying fourth-quarter TRICKERATION, where a reverse handoff to Jauan Jennings turned into Jennings throwing an unexpected 29-yard touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey. Suddenly, the 49ers were winning by a hair, 17-16.  

A Brock Purdy interception allowed the Eagles to kick another field goal and retake the lead, 19-17. But Purdy would shake that off instantly for a game-winning 66-yard drive that cooked five minutes off the late-game clock, and will send the 49ers to the Divisional Round playoffs next weekend.

And so the 49ers go on to face the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle next week. Some Niners fans are already up in arms with “the NFL hates us” theories over that game being scheduled as a Saturday game, which hands the 49ers a short week of preparation while Seattle is coming off a bye. (For what it’s worth, the Seahawks are early 6.5-point favorites.)

And you know what? Go ahead and have that chip on your shoulder, 49ers fans. This injury-ravaged team thrives in its “us against the world” mentality, Adversity motivates these 49ers, who are now one step closer to having adversity motivate them to a Super Bowl in their own home stadium on February 8.

Related: 49ers Win Wild, Roller-Coaster Shootout Over Chicago Bears 42-38, Could Get No. 1 Seed In NFC [SFist]

Image: PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 11: San Francisco 49ers defenders tackle Saquon Barkley #26 of the Philadelphia Eagles during the first quarter in the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field on January 11, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Those wacky black helmets did the 49ers no favors in a Saturday night game, as they blew their storybook chance at home field advantage through the Super Bowl, getting suffocated by Seattle 13-3.

Your San Francisco 49ers came into an unusual Saturday night NFL game with a sterling 12-4 record and a glorious fairy tale scenario in front of them: beat the Seattle Seahawks, which would win them the Number 1 seed in the NFC, and they would have home field advantage all the way through the Super Bowl which is being played at Levi’s Stadium. But that fairy tale took a beating with a 13-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, where the Niners scored their fewest points in any game all season, and just six days after they scored six touchdowns against the Chicago Bears.

The short-handed 49ers defense played their hearts out. They gave up a long seven-and-a-half minute opening drive to the Seahawks, who had a first-and-goal at the Niners’ one-yard line. But the defense stopped ‘em on with a memorable goal line stand, keeping the score 0-0.

But the 49ers’ offense promptly went three-and-out and punted. And on the Seahawks’ ensuing drive, running back Zach Charbonnet was able to waltz 27 yards largely untouched for a 7-0 Seattle lead.

It would be the only touchdown scored in the game.

The 49ers could not get any offense going, and both teams managed but a measly field goal apiece in the second quarter. Otherwise, the Seahawks missed another second-quarter field goal, the 49ers choked on a fourth-down attempt, and the Niners found themselves losing a defensive battle 10-3 at halftime.

And then came the late third quarter play that will haunt the 49ers’ film room all week. With the Seahawks looking at third-and-seventeen, and up by just seven points, the Niners were primed to get the ball right back on a punt. But they somehow allowed Seahawks backup running back Kenneth Walker III to gash deep into their secondary for a 19-yard gain, which would set up another Seattle field goal and a 13-3 deficit.

The 49ers were driving with one last chance, down ten points, and all the way down at the Seahawks’ six-yard line. But Christian McCaffrey would bobble a Brock Purdy pass, which bounced right into the arms of Seahawks linebacker Drake Thomas. It was a game-losing interception, the Niners’ first red zone turnover of the season, and it came at the absolute worst possible time.

One can wonder if the 49ers cursed themselves with those puzzling black helmets and uncalled-for alternate uniforms. And were those fishnets on the red sections of the 49ers’ strange pants?

So Seattle wins the NFC West and the Number 1 seed in the NFC. The 49ers will drop all the way down to either the Number 5 or Number 6 seed, and that seed gets determined by whether the LA Rams beat the Cardinals later today. A Cardinals win puts the 49ers’ Wild Card game against whatever hapless, losing-record team wins the NFC South today, a Rams win would send the 49ers into a likely road playoff game against the formidable defending champion Philadelphia Eagles.

So Niners fans would prefer to see the Arizona Cardinals beat the Rams today in a game that is on Fox at 1:25 pm PT.

Though remember, even with Saturday night’s loss to the Seahawks, it’s still on the table that the 49ers could be playing in the Super Bowl at their home stadium on Sunday, February 8.

Related: 49ers Clinch Playoff Spot, Even Though They Had the Day Off on Sunday [SFist]

Image: SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 03: Zach Charbonnet #26 of the Seattle Seahawks carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the second quarter of a game at Levi's Stadium on January 03, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)

A barnburner of a Sunday Night Football game saw the 49ers and Bears score a combined 11 touchdowns, but the Niners defense came through in the clutch for a 42-38 win that could give them home-field advantage all playoffs long.

In an after-Christmas weekend whose Saturday and Sunday were jam-packed with absolutely amazing college and NFL games, the best game of the weekend was the San Francisco 49ers' Sunday Night Football cherry-on-top finale, an extraordinary 42-38 win over the Chicago Bears that saw 11 — count ‘em — 11 touchdowns. So certainly both offenses made mincemeat of the opposing defense, but the 49ers D would win the day, on the final play when the Bears were just two yards from the winning touchdown, with four seconds left in this thrillride game with massive playoff implications.

These Chicago Bears had won six games in the final two minutes, and appeared to have the 49ers right where they wanted them. And the Bears had driven 63 yards in the final two minutes to set up what we feared would be the winning touchdown, in a game that was ridiculously full of touchdowns for both teams.

How ridiculously full of touchdowns? Brock Purdy threw an interception for a Bears touchdown on the very first play from scrimmage, the Bears were up 7-0 just 15 seconds into this game, and it was off to the races from there.

The 49ers would respond immediately upon getting the ball back, with George Kittle replacement Jake Tonges getting the honors for this one-yard touchdown catch.

The Niners would make it 14-7 on this Brock “the Glock” Purdy touchdown scramble, though the highlight of the drive was a 43-yard run by Christian McCaffrey. But with the rushing TD would make Purdy the first NFL quarterback ever to have a passing touchdown, rushing touchdown, and a pick-six to the other team, all in the same game.

And at this point we are only ten minutes into this contest.

Bears receiver Luther Burden III would tie it up 14-14 with this touchdown catch, showing that Bears quarterback and first overall draft pick in the 2024 NFL Draft Caleb Williams could go toe-to-toe with the Niners’ potent offense.

But the last overall draft pick in the 2022 NFL Draft Brock Purdy would still scramble for yet another touchdown with about three minutes to go in the second half to give the 49ers a 28-21 halftime lead.

Purdy’s nuttiest improvisational work came late in the third quarter, turning this busted first-and-goal play into a touchdown throw to little-used fullback Kyle Juszczyk.

This of course unleashed more white-boy moves from Purdy, but everyone knew we were still in for one hell of a tense, back-and-forth fourth quarter.

Indeed, the Bears’ D'Andre Swift would scamper for a 22-yard touchdown to open that fourth quarter and tie the game yet again at 35-35. But the turning point may have been when the Bears made it all the way to the 49ers’ 11-yard-line with five minutes left in the game, though the Niners D held them to a field goal attempt and a 38-35 Chicago lead. The touchdown seesaw was then broken, with the ball coming back the 49ers’ way.

And Jauan Jennings would score what would be the winning 49ers’ touchdown, as the Niners’ defense had their game-winning stand once the Bears got the ball back after this.

Looking at the NFC West standings, the Seattle Seahawks are still in first place. But we play those Seattle Seahawks this coming Saturday night, and if the 49ers win, they are the 2025 NFC West Champions.  

Not only that, the 49ers would also be the Number One seed in the NFC if they beat the Seahawks Saturday. They would move from the current No 5 seed to the No 1 seed with that win, and would have home-field advantage all the way through the playoffs, including the February 8, 2026 Super Bowl being played at Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium.  

That Super Bowl is of course for all the marbles. But a regular season game does not get any more “all the marbles” than this Saturday’s 5 pm game against the Seahawks, being played in Santa Clara with the broadcast on ESPN, and both the NFC West crown and No 1 seed in the NFC on the line.

Related: 49ers Run Roughshod Over Indianapolis Colts 48-27, Move On Up in Playoff Standings [SFist]

Image: SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 28: Jauan Jennings #15 of the San Francisco 49ers runs for a touchdown against the Chicago Bears during the fourth quarter of the game at Levi's Stadium on December 28, 2025 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Brock Purdy became the first 49ers quarterback ever to throw for five touchdown passes in a single Monday Night Football game, and the 49ers romped last night in a yuletide touchdown party over the Indianapolis Colts.

The San Francisco 49ers rattled off their fifth straight victory Monday night with a 48-27 win over the Indianapolis Colts that seemed like just another one of their easy wins over creampuff teams that have characterized the Niners’ last month. But this one was bigger, because the 49ers had already cliched a playoff berth before the game had even started, and found themselves still in the thick of the race for the No 1 seed in the NFC and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.  

Jokes galore have been cracked about the Colts’ 44-year-old, pulled-out-of-retirement emergency quarterback Philip Rivers, a man currently playing NFL quarterback even though he’s a grandfather. But the noticeably chubbier Rivers played pretty respectably, going 23-for-35 and 277 yards, plus two TDs and the one interception.

The problem was that he plays for the Indianapolis Colts. The 49ers evened it up to 7-7 with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Demarcus Robinson, and the Colts promptly fumbled the ensuing kickoff to give the Niners that ball at the Indianapolis 26-yard line. An easy two-yard touchdown throw to Christian McCaffrey would put the 49ers up 14-7.

Yet the pesky, aging Philip Rivers would manage to score again, tying the game 14-14. The 49ers would create more breathing room with a second quarter George Kittle touchdown and an Eddy Piñeiro field goal, but we almost got another miracle out of Piñeiro just before halftime.

Niners coach Kyle Shanahan decided “Fuck it, why not?,” and trotted Piñeiro out for a ridiculously unlikely 64-yard field goal attempt right before halftime. Piñeiro almost hit it! But the ball doinked off the lower crossbar (and quite loudly at that), leaving the halftime score 24-17, Niners.

There are concerns that tight end George Kittle may have injured his ankle when he left the game in the fourth quarter. There has been no announcement of his status for this week’s huge Sunday Night Football game against Chicago.  

But the 49ers kept pouring it on. And with five touchdown passes Monday night, Brock Purdy shockingly became the first 49ers quarterback ever to throw for five touchdowns in a Monday Night Football game. Not even Joe Montana or Steve Young had ever done that!

The 49ers would ice this game with a Dee Winters pick-six interception with less than four minutes left, setting up that lopsided 48-27 final score, and leaving the 49ers with their current outstanding 11-4 record.  

And an 11-4 record is good enough to squeak past the Rams right now in the NFC West divisional standings, but it is not good enough to overcome Seattle at 12-3. The 49ers can still win the division, but that means winning their last two games, including their January 4 matchup with those very Seattle Seahawks.

The Seahawks are also the No 1 overall seed in the NFC at the moment, though the 49ers could swipe that No 1 seed from them with two more victories these next two Sundays. But even one loss would drop the 49ers all the way to the sixth seed, and likely a road playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

So the 49ers have made the playoffs, but they have far more ambitious goals. They’ve got the very formidable Chicago Bears coming in for Sunday Night Football this Sunday in Santa Clara. And if they win that one, there’s a very high likelihood that the final January 4 game against Seattle also gets flexed to prime-time Sunday Night Football.

So we’ve got two weeks of very exciting high-stakes 49ers football coming up to ride out this holiday season. For Niners fans enjoying a fifth consecutive win, this really is the most wonderful time of the year.

Related: 49ers Rout a Very Sorry Tennessee Titans Team 37-24, Remain Right In the Thick of Playoff Race [SFist]

Image: INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - DECEMBER 22: Demarcus Robinson #5 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown in the first quarter of the game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium on December 22, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)

Tonight’s 49ers Monday Night Football game will have a little less suspense, as the Niners already punched their ticket to the playoffs just by scoreboard-watching on Sunday, and they’re even in the running for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

Your San Francisco 49ers did not play Sunday, because they have the Monday Night Football game against the Indianapolis Colts tonight at 5:15 pm PT (KGO and ESPN). But their idle Sunday was still a productive one to celebrate, as the Chronicle reports the 49ers still clinched a playoff spot Sunday, even though they did not even play.

The 49ers are in the playoffs by virtue of the Detroit Lions’ 29-24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday, which guarantees the 49ers at least the seventh seed in the NFC playoffs. And as the Chronicle points out, the 49ers will now be going to the playoffs for the fourth time in their last five seasons (reaching the Super Bowl in 2020 and 2024).

But while the 49ers are currently the No 6 seed in the NFC playoff race, they could very easily end the season with the No 1 seed, and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. This would require winning all three remaining games, but it’s on the table.

And yes, considering that the Super Bowl is being played at the 49ers Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, that would mean the 49ers playing for a Super Bowl World Championship right on their home field.

But we should note that the 49ers have spent the last month fattening up on terrible teams and cruising to easy victories. The next three games get substantially harder.

The Seattle Seahawks are the current No 1 seed in the NFC with a 12-3 record, and the 49ers play the Seahawks in the final regular season game on January 4, 2026. The Chicago Bears are the current No 2 seed in the NFC with a 11-4 record, and the 49ers face the Bears this coming Sunday, December 28. (That game just got flexed to NBC’s Sunday Night Football.)

Which means your Christmas week will be bookended by the 49ers having two big national TV games: the Monday Night Football game tonight against the Colts, and the Sunday Night Football tilt against the Bears this Sunday.

About that Indianapolis Colts game tonight, and we see above that a few Niners fans are already there in Indy. The Colts were flying high at the beginning of the season, though now are down to the emergency quarterbacking of 44-year-old literal grandfather Philip Rivers, who they desperately pulled out of retirement. Yet these crazy geriatric Colts nearly beat Seattle last week, so we shouldn’t just blow them off.

A few more scenarios above to kick around with regards to tonight’ 49ers-Colts outcome, but regardless, the rest of this holiday season will be fun to be a 49ers fan. The Niners are in a real position of privilege this December, having already clinched their playoff spot, with three whole games still remaining on their schedule.

Related: 49ers Rout a Very Sorry Tennessee Titans Team 37-24, Remain Right In the Thick of Playoff Race [SFist]

Image: SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 14: George Kittle #85 of the San Francisco 49ers reacts after getting a first down during the NFL 2025 game between Tennessee Titans and San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium on December 14, 2025 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

It’s a ‘Touchdown, San… Fran… Cisco!’ over lymphoblastic leukemia, as legendary football announcer Greg Papa’s cancer is in remission, and he’ll be back to calling a 49ers game in just 11 days.

The loss of longtime Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers game-day radio announcer Greg Papa this season seemed almost secondary, compared to the concern we felt in August when learning that Grep Papa had been diagnosed with cancer, and that his acute lymphoblastic leukemia would keep him out of the broadcast booth for an indefinite period.

Now five months later, we have incredible, unexpected news about the 63-year-old Papa. The Chronicle reports that not only is his cancer in remission, but that Papa will return to the 49ers broadcast booth on December 28 to call a home game against the Chicago Bears. Papa will also be back to do the play-by-play for the January 4 regular season finale home game against the Seattle Seahawks, and would likely call any home playoff games the 49ers have, and maybe even road playoff games.

The magic moment when Papa and the live KNBR audience got the news Tuesday morning can be seen below.

“I really feel, physically, just about 100% for the first time in a while,” Papa told the Chronicle. “So today was a good day. I got great news.” (He has been doing his KNBR radio show remotely since mid-September.)

While he’s done with chemotherapy treatments, Papa continues to get immunotherapy, and is nowhere near out of the woods. He still needs a bone marrow transplant for his remission to continue, and there is always a chance one’s body will not accept it. A hereditary heart condition has continuously disrupted his treatment.

And if you tune into KNBR or any 49ers Radio Network station to hear Greg Papa call those 49ers games on December 28 or January 4, realize he will be wearing a fanny pack with a catheter connected to it that is pumping immunotherapy drugs into him the whole time.

But it’s still something of a miracle that Greg Papa is back on the job barely six months after a cancer diagnosis. And the voice of Bay Area sports radio for the last 39 years is well-positioned to be around for a 40th year, and hopefully many more after that.

Related: 49ers Radio Announcer Greg Papa Diagnosed With Cancer, Is ‘Stepping Away’ From Broadcasts for Now [SFist]

Image: @KNBR via Twitter

The San Francisco 49ers beat probably the worst team in the NFL Sunday with a 37-24 win over the Tennessee Titans, maintaining some good-but-not-great playoff positioning.

Your San Francisco 49ers had their bye last week, and yesterday they had the next best thing — a home game against arguably the league’s worst team. And that game ended up a 37-24 win over the Tennessee Titans, though that game ends the monthlong easy cakewalk phase of their schedule, and mostly very difficult games remain now on the Niners’ regular season horizon.

This game was only competitive for the first few minutes. The 49ers scored on their very first drive and never looked back, with the above four-yard touchdown pass to Jauan Jennings. Tennessee would drive within the 49ers’ 10-yard line on their first drive, but would only be able to score a field goal to make it 7-3 at the end of the first quarter.

Brock Purdy showed off his wild improvisational skills throughout the game, like with this fun completion to DeMarcus Robinson, which resulted in the standard one-yard Christian McCaffrey TD run. Another Niners Eddy Pineiro field goal made for a 17-10 halftime score, along with a corresponding missed Titans field goal by placekicker Joey Slye. (Remember him? He was briefly the Niners’ replacement kicker when Robbie Gould was injured in 2021.)

49ers receiver Ricky Pearsall bounced back from his recent post-injury slump (six catches for 96 yards), which set up another third-quarter touchdown. Next thing you know, the Titans punt, the 49ers scored on yet another touchdown on a drive that took more than nine minutes off the clock, and it was a 31-10 blowout by the fourth quarter.

Yet the Titans would put up some fight! They scored a ‘fat guy touchdown’ on a gadget play to 305-pound defensive end Jeffery Simmons, and ‘fat guy touchdown’ is one of the best plays in all of football. Another garbage time Titans touchdown and an additional 49ers field goal would put this thing out of its misery with a 37-24 final score.

But bigger picture, the division rival Rams and Seahawks also won their game, and both sit with gaudy 11-3 records. And the Rams are the No 1 seed in the NFC? They are. But it also feels like these 49ers, Rams, and Seahawks all feel like teams that could all each beat any one of the other on any given day, and no team is clearly the best in the division.

Meanwhile, the 49ers maintain a somewhat firm-ish grip on an NFC Wild Card slot. But their schedule is about to get much harder.

Next up is next week's Monday Night Football game against the suddenly good Indianapolis Colts. But the Colts have been relegated to playing 44-year-old literal grandfather Philip Rivers at quarterback. And yet these very Colts damn near came back and beat the Seahawks yesterday! So there are probably no more sprinkled Christmas cookies on the schedule as the 49ers head into the final three weeks of the regular season.

Related: 49ers Make Mincemeat Out of an Inept Cleveland Browns Team In 26-8 Win [SFist]

Image: SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 14: Christian McCaffrey #23 of the San Francisco 49ers runs with the ball during the third quarter against the Tennessee Titans at Levi's Stadium on December 14, 2025 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

The San Francisco 49ers literally did ‘the Dougie’ on the Cleveland Browns in a lopsided 26-8 win, the Niners’ third straight victory that gave them a stronger grip on a playoff spot, and put them within a hair of the NFC West lead.

As relentlessly inept as the Cleveland Browns football franchise has been since its return in 1999, your San Francisco 49ers had actually not won a game in Cleveland since 1984, the days of Joe Montana and Dwight Clark (back then, Jerry Rice was still just a senior at Mississippi Valley State). Granted, the Niners don’t play very often at a Cleveland Stadium that locals have taken to call “the Factory of Sadness” because of how frequently the Browns lose there. But the 49ers still notched their first victory in Cleveland in 41 years on Sunday, with a 26-8 win over the Cleveland Browns that put the Niners right back in the race for the NFC West division crown.

This game looked like it might be a one-sided affair pretty early on, as emerging 49ers kick returner Skyy Moore took an early first quarter punt return 66 yards, all the way down to the Cleveland 16-yard line. Christian McCaffrey would score on a one-yard touchdown run five plays later to give the 49ers a 7-0 lead.

But these Browns would fight back. Deion Sanders' kid Shadeur Sanders, starting his second game ever as an NFL quarterback, hit his tight end Harold Fannin for a 34-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter. The Browns also scored a controversial two-point conversion where it did not appear their running back Quinshon Judkins actually made it into the end zone, but still put the Browns up by an odd score of 8-7.

Though armed with just 39 seconds left before halftime, the 49ers drove the length of the field in a drive highlighted by this bonkers George Kittle catch that made you wonder how on earth he caught that thing.

New 49ers kicker Matt Gay doinked the field goal attempt, but… it was a good doink that went in! The 49ers were up 10-8 at halftime, and this year they are now 8-0 when leading at halftime. So they’ve got that going for them.

Cleveland would fumble on a completely disorganized fourth-down attempt in the mid-third quarter, setting up another 49ers drive. Brock Purdy capped that off by faking a handoff and running it in for the touchdown himself, making it 17-8.

And can you believe these “Dougie” dance moves from Purdy after the touchdown! Certainly George Kittle could not.

The woeful Browns would just have more fumbles and failed fourth-down conversion attempts through the remainder of this game. A fourth quarter touchdown pass to Jauan Jennings TD made the score 23-8 (the two-point was not good), another Matt Gay 49ers field goal gave you the final score of 26-8.

But speaking of 49ers receiver Jauan Jennings, who was famously punched in the nuts during last week’s game, the sore-loser Browns had some choice words about Jennings after the game. "He's a hoe, and I want that known. Like, I see why he got punched in the nuts," Browns defensive tackle Shelby Harris (who I have never heard of) told reporters after the game. “I see exactly why they punched him in the nuts. I’m surprised nobody’s punched him in the jaw yet.”  

It’s an entertaining clip and certainly deserves a listen.

Regardless, Sunday was a good day in the NFC West standings for he 49ers. The division-leading Rams lost to the not very good Carolina Panthers. That, plus the Niners’ win over the Browns, leaves the 49ers a mere half-game out of the division lead. And we’ve still got five weeks remaining in the regular season.

Meanwhile in the playoff race, the Niners solidified their hold on the NFC’s seventh and final playoff spot. Their closest competition for that seven-seed is the Detroit Lions, who at 7-5, are a full game-and-a-half back.

The 49ers remain on Easy Street for the next couple weeks. They have their bye week this Sunday, and then the following Sunday they play the league’s worst team, the Tennessee Titans. But on the Monday Night Football before Christmas their schedule gets much tougher with a game against the surprising Indianapolis Colts, followed by the suddenly good Chicago Bears the Sunday after Christmas, and a critical division match-up against the Seahawks on January 4, the final day of the regular season.  

Related: 49ers Demolish Cardinals 41-22 In Brock Purdy’s Glorious Return [SFist]

Image: CLEVELAND, OHIO - NOVEMBER 30: Brock Purdy #13 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates after scoring a rushing touchdown past Mohamoud Diabate #43 of the Cleveland Browns during the third quarter at Huntington Bank Field on November 30, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)

The 49ers easily manhandled a terrible Carolina Panthers team 20-9 on Monday Night Football, but everyone’s talking about a dirty punch to the unmentionables of Niners’ Jauan Jennings’s that set off a post-game fracas.

Your San Francisco 49ers had their first Monday Night Football game of the year last night, a largely unremarkable 20-9 win over the Carolina Panthers that was just the 49ers doing what good teams are supposed to do against bad teams.  But the scene immediately after the game was quite remarkable, as 49ers receiver Jauan Jennings took a swing at Panthers safety Tre'von Moehrig during what are normally just collegial postgame handshakes, and bizarrely had to be restrained (and tackled!) by his own teammates and assistant coaches.

What was Jennings's deal? Well, the internet did its thing. By the time Sportscenter With Scott Van Pelt came on, video sleuths had found footage showing that the Panthers’ Moehrig had delivered a dirty punch late in the game right smack-dab at Jennings’s gonads.

Jennings did not immediately retaliate when the incriminating nut-punch happened on a throwaway two-yard Christian McCaffrey run with 2:34 left in the game. Instead, Jennings wisely saved his retaliation for after the game, when he would not get a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

And it does not sound like Jauan Jennings is in coach Mike Shanahan’s doghouse because of this postgame outburst. “The guy took a cheap shot and hit him in the balls,” Shanahan said after the game. “I was real proud of Jauan for not losing his mind out there.”

Still, Jennings could face a fine, or even a suspension from this Sunday's game against Cleveland.

But about the game! The red-dye-haired Jennings himself kicked off the scoring in this one, as the 49ers ran a long opening drive that took 8:43 of the clock, and ended with Jennings refusing to be tackled on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Brock Purdy. New emergency replacement kicker Matt Gay made the extra point, and was 4-4 on the night with two made field goals and two made extra points. So that’s a relief indicating we do not have a blundering kicker at the moment.

But people, this was bad football all night. Brock Purdy would be picked off on the very first play of the next 49ers drive (on a pass intended for Jauan Jennings), leaving the Panthers deep in 49ers territory for what appeared to be an easy score.

Yet the bumbling Panthers would not score. Instead, they threw their own interception right into the hands of the 49ers’ Ji'Ayir Brown.

How inept were these Carolina Panthers? Here’s Christian McCaffrey just fumbling it right to them deep in 49ers territory in the mid-second quarter. But the Panthers were just plain unable to fall on the ball, and the Niners picked up a tidy 15 yards simply by virtue of McCaffrey’s fumble.  

Yet that drive would end with… another Brock Purdy interception! Though none of this mattered, because the Panthers were not able to score any points off these spectacular mishaps.  

Until they were. Purdy’s third interception in just the first half led to a Panthers field goal that made this game 10-3. But that was as close as Carolina would be able to get for the rest of the game.

The 49ers added another second-half touchdown and field goal, while the Panthers would just throw interceptions and miss field goals in the second half. Frankly, a better team would have probably beaten these 49ers Monday night, what with all of their interceptions and fumbles and roughing-the-snapper penalties (roughing the snapper?). Still, the 49ers head into Thanksgiving with a very respectable 8-4 record, and right in the thick of the playoff race.

But a very respectable 8-4 record is only good enough for third place in the NFC West right now. The Niners are a full game-and-a-half behind the LA Rams, who are looking awfully goddamn good at the moment.

Yet the 49ers maintain their hold on the seventh and final playoff spot in the NFC. And they benefit from a relatively easy schedule these next couple weeks.

This Sunday the 49ers visit the dreadful Cleveland Browns, in what will be a 10 am PT morning game. Yes, the Browns just won a game with Deion Sanders’s kid Shadeur Sanders making his first start. But that was against the Raiders, who are probably the worst team in the NFL right now.

Young Shadeur Sanders will be up against something entirely different when he faces the Niners defense Sunday. But if he somehow leads the 3-8 Browns to a win Sunday over the 49ers, well… that would just be nuts.  

Related: 49ers Demolish Cardinals 41-22 In Brock Purdy’s Glorious Return [SFist]

Image: SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 24: Jauan Jennings #15 of the San Francisco 49ers is separated from Tre'von Moehrig #7 of the Carolina Panthers after the game at Levi's Stadium on November 24, 2025 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)