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The San Francisco 49ers‘ season ended Saturday night in the worst way possible.A 41-6 blowout loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Divisional Round closed the door on a campaign defined by adversity. The Seahawks jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter, and the 49ers never recovered.Season-ending injuries on both sides of the ball tested San Francisco all year. The manner of Saturday’s loss stung. But quarterback Brock Purdy is already looking ahead to 2026, and his message was clear.When asked to rate the 49ers’ chances of winning a Super Bowl next season, Purdy did not hesitate.“100 percent,” Purdy said.Brock Purdy’s Confidence in the Team’s Future GettyBrock Purdy #13 of the San Francisco 49ers. Purdy believes the 49ers have the right pieces to compete for a championship in 2026.“I really do believe that we have the right guys man,” Purdy said. “Obviously didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but I really do think that with some guys getting healthy and what we stand for and how we always bounce back. I feel like our backs were against the wall really all season with guys going down, but we always found a way. And so I think once we’re 100 percent and feel good about ourselves and learn and then we’ll be just fine.”Purdy’s confidence stems from what the 49ers accomplished despite the injuries they faced. San Francisco finished 12-5 in the regular season and won a road playoff game in Philadelphia despite missing key players throughout the year.Getting healthy will be the priority this offseason. Fred Warner, Nick Bosa, and George Kittle all missed significant time. Purdy himself spent half the regular season sidelined with a turf toe injury suffered in Week 1.That injury was particularly frustrating for Purdy. It came right after he agreed to the biggest contract of his career. Instead of building on his success from previous seasons, he spent weeks rehabbing and watching from the sideline.But Purdy returned and helped lead the 49ers to the playoffs. The team never folded, even as the injury list grew longer. That resilience is what gives Purdy confidence heading into 2026.What This Season Showed About the Niners GettyHead coach Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers. Purdy praised the character and heart his teammates showed throughout the year.“The resiliency, the character and the heart of this team was unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of,” Purdy said. “I know a lot of guys were saying that (after the game). Kyle [Shanahan] said it, Trent Williams, everyone feels it — the heart, man. And so for us it does excite us in terms of we’re going to regroup and get guys healthy and get back after it.”The 49ers dealt with adversity all season. Warner and Bosa combined to play just nine games during the regular season. Kittle tore his Achilles in the Wild Card Round against the Philadelphia Eagles. Ricky Pearsall missed games. The offensive line rotated constantly.Despite all of that, San Francisco found ways to win. The 49ers matched their 2023 win total with a far more depleted roster. They won a playoff game on the road. They stayed competitive until the very end.Saturday’s loss to Seattle was ugly. The Seahawks dominated on both sides of the ball, and the 49ers had no answers. But Purdy does not believe that game defines what this team is capable of when healthy.“So we are excited for the future, but obviously right now it just sucks because the loss is fresh in our mouths,” Purdy said.Why the 49ers Believe 2026 Will Be DifferentThe 49ers have been one of the NFL’s best teams over the last several years.San Francisco made two Super Bowl appearances from 2019 to 2023. Head coach Kyle Shanahan has built a culture of resilience and adaptability. The roster is talented, even if injuries prevented that talent from being fully realized this season.The biggest question heading into 2026 is health. If Warner, Bosa, Purdy, Christian McCaffrey and the rest of the roster can stay on the field, the 49ers have the talent to…

The Buffalo Bills stunned the collective NFL world on Monday morning when they fired head coach Sean McDermott in the wake of their latest playoff defeat. Now, they will begin searching for a new head coach to replace McDermott, but the timing of this decision could create some trouble for the team.After years of playoff struggles, McDermott’s latest loss to the Denver Broncos finally cost him his job. The problem, however, is that Buffalo is way behind the rest of the league when it comes to its head coach search. And per the NFL’s rules, there are a handful of potential candidates the team may not even get a shot to interview after moving on from McDermott.NFL Rules Could Create Problems for Bills in Head Coach Search One big interviewing note for Buffalo: The Bills cannot talk to any candidate currently employed by the remaining playoff teams. And they can’t talk to candidates on the two teams that make the Super Bowl until after that game, per league rules. — Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) January 19, 2026 McDermott was hired by the Bills back in 2017, and after the team drafted Josh Allen in 2018, the team quickly rose to the top of the NFL. While they enjoyed a great deal of success during the regular season, the postseason was a different story, as Buffalo has advanced to the AFC Championship Game just once during Allen’s stint with the team.Over the years, McDermott’s standing with the team has been questioned as a result of their playoff woes. With usual competitors like the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, and Cincinnati Bengals all missing the postseason this year, many folks believed this was Buffalo’s best shot at making it to the Super Bowl.Instead, the Bills suffered another crushing playoff defeat, and this time, it cost McDermott his job. While public opinion on McDermott’s firing is mixed, there’s no question that this decision could cause problems for Buffalo when it comes to its new head coach search. That’s because NFL rules prohibit the Bills from talking to any of their potential candidates who are still employed by the remaining four playoff teams across the league until they get eliminated from the playoffs.“One big interviewing note for Buffalo: The Bills cannot talk to any candidate currently employed by the remaining playoff teams. And they can’t talk to candidates on the two teams that make the Super Bowl until after that game, per league rules,” Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports shared in a post on X.Could Bills Miss Out on Top Head Coach Candidate Because of NFL’s Rules? GettyGeneral manager Brandon Beane of the Buffalo Bills. Essentially, the NFL wants to avoid any team still in the playoffs from gaining a tactical advantage by having one of their coaches meet with the Bills and potentially discuss their upcoming opponent. As a result, if Buffalo wants to meet with some of its targets that are working for teams still in the postseason, it will need those teams to lose sooner rather than later.McDermott’s firing is still fresh, so it remains to be seen who the Bills are targeting for their head coach vacancy. As things unfold, though, a clearer picture will be painted, but it is worth noting that there’s a world where the team doesn’t even get a shot to interview their top candidate. This is just one of the many reasons Buffalo’s head coach search will draw so much attention over the coming weeks. Like Heavy Sports's content? Be sure to follow us. This article was originally published on Heavy SportsThe post NFL Rules Will Limit Bills Head Coach Search After Sean McDermott Firing appeared first on Heavy Sports.