When was the last time both one seeds made the Super Bowl
Getting the one seed in the conference means a first round BYE and home field advantage, but that doesn’t mean its a straight shot to the Super Bowl.
The playoff picture is starting to take shape, and we know almost all of the teams that will be making the postseason once Week 18 comes to a close. There are still a couple of games that will decide the final two teams to make the playoffs, and another couple that will decide the one seeds in the AFC and NFC.
One seed showdown in the Bay
The San Francisco 49ers will host the Seattle Seahawks in a Week 18 battle that will decide who gets the one seed in the NFC. The winner earns a first round BYE and home field advantage in the playoffs while the loser will get a Wild Card spot and the fifth seed.
The Seahawks are 1.5-point road favorites vs. the 49ers in Week 18 😳 pic.twitter.com/0Mvj5Keq6D
— ESPN BET (@ESPNBET) December 29, 2025
In the AFC the Denver Broncos are currently the top seed in the AFC but they are going to have to win their Week 18 game to hold on to that spot at the top of the conference and secure the a BYE and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. If they beat the Chargers on Sunday the one spot is theirs. If they lose, and the New England Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins, then New England get the one seed heading into the postseason.
All four teams gunning for the one seed would love to get a week off to get healthy and then come back to action with the luxury of not having to leave home. After 17 regular season weeks, it all comes down to the final weekend before the postseason.
Will history repeat for Broncos, Niners?
You don’t have to go too far back to find the last Super Bowl match up that featured the one seed in the AFC and the NFC. In 2023, the one seeded Kansas City Chiefs beat the top seeded Philadelphia Eagles out of the NFC on Super Sunday. KC ended up winning that game in what would turn out to be a back to back Super Bowl run.
The Eagles were in the previous match up between one seeds when they met the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII back in 2018. The Eagles won that battle of one seeds in Minneapolis for their first Lombardi Trophy in franchise history.
The @49ers enter Sunday having won five previous Super Bowls.
— Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) February 11, 2024
The fourth of these was played in January 1990 and featured the largest blowout in Super Bowl history, when San Francisco's thumped Denver, 55-10, in Super Bowl XXIV.
📹: @NFL pic.twitter.com/THONsl10Rj
In total the one seeds have meet in the Super Bowl 13 times. The Raiders beat the Vikings 32-14 in Super Bowl XI to take the first battle of top seeds back in 1977. Strangely enough, the Broncos have been featured in the most 1 vs. 1 Super Bowls with four, followed by the Niners with three. Back in Super Bowl XXIV the Broncos and Niners played each other as the one seeds and the Niners whopped the Broncos 55-10 in New Orleans. The Niners and Broncos have a chance for the one seed again this year, and we could see a rematch between these two teams in San Francisco this February.
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