SANTA CLARA, CA - JANUARY 03: Drake Thomas #42 of the Seattle Seahawks celebrates an interception with teammates during an NFL game against the San Francisco 49ers on January 3, 2026 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. (Matthew Huang / Icon Sportswire / Getty Images)
A 10-point victory may never look more dominant than Saturday night's 13-3 victory for the Seattle Seahawks over the San Francisco 49ers.
The Seahawks bludgeoned their NFC West rival to firmly grasp the division title and the No. 1 seed in the conference, securing a first-round bye and homefield advantage throughout the postseason.
"All the things that we’ve been working at since we walked in the door, especially this year, is coming to life," head coach Mike Macdonald said. "It is so much fun to go to work every day and to coach this team. It’s an absolute honor to coach these guys. … I don’t want this to end."
Seattle's defense battered a 49ers' offense that had been soaring over the last several weeks to force Saturday's battle for the NFC West title. The Seahawks made them look completely outclassed as they almost entirely shut down Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks marched the ball down the field frequently against the 49ers defense, even if a handful of errors kept the offense from scoring more than 13 points. Seattle had at least one first down on every drive of the game except the two drives that ended each half. They gained at least 35 yards on six of seven full possessions in the contest.
And while a pair of missed field goals from Jason Myers and a failed fourth down try on the opening possession of the game kept more points off the board, it was still more than enough for Seattle to get the victory in convincing fashion.
The road to the Super Bowl goes through Seattle in the NFC. The Seahawks have made the Super Bowl each of the prior three times that has been the case.
"It’s huge," Kupp said of getting home-field advantage. "And I can’t tell you how pumped I am to see the atmosphere and what the 12s bring. My expectations are very high for what they are going to bring."
Here are the takeaways from the performance against the 49ers:
– Seahawks defense has taken their game to another level.
What a clinic from the Seahawks defense.
The 49ers entered Saturday night's game on an absolute heater. They'd gained at least 425 yards of offense in each of their last three games, scoring 37 points against Tennessee, 48 points against Indianapolis, and 42 against Chicago. They'd been held under 20 points just once in their last eight games.
The Seahawks shut them down, limiting the 49ers offense to only 173 yards and three points. It's the worst offensive performance of the Kyle Shanahan era for San Francisco, and the first time they've been held to three points since Shanahan's first game with the team in 2017.
"The defense played lights out," receiver Cooper Kupp said. "Absolutely lights out."
San Francisco hadn't had a three-and-out drive since November when they had two against the Cleveland Browns. Seattle forced three such drives by the 49ers on Saturday night, and a four-and-out for a turnover on downs that ended the game as well. In that same span, they'd punted just twice in December (both last week against the Chicago Bears) before punting four times against the Seahawks.
The 49ers had only one drive that gained more than 30 yards the entire night, and it ended in a Drake Thomas interception at the 3-yard line.
Christian McCaffrey was held to just 57 yards of total offense on 14 total touches, rushing for just 23 yards on eight carries and adding 34 yards on six receptions. It was McCaffrey's lowest rushing output of his 49ers tenure and the lowest since gaining just 18 yards for the Panthers against the New Orleans Saints in a game he was injured in 2018.
Sure, the 49ers were playing without left tackle Trent Williams and wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, but McCaffrey, Jauan Jennings, George Kittle and Brock Purdy were all in the lineup still.
This performance comes on the heels of the win over the Carolina Panthers where they held them to only 137 yards of offense – the eighth-fewest yards allowed in team history.
The Seahawks also extended their streak of not allowing a 100-yard rusher to 26 straight games.
Seattle's defense isn't just playing well, it's absolutely squeezing all life out of their opponents.
– Running game peaking at the right time.
When Sam Darnold and the Seattle passing offense was rolling through the first half of the season, it felt like all the Seahawks needed to look like a legitimate Super Bowl contender was for the rushing attack to catch up.
Might the Seahawks be there now?
Outside of rushing for 198 yards at home against the Arizona Cardinals in early November, the best three rushing performances of the season have come in the last three weeks.
"Honestly, it’s easy to feel good about it right now," Macdonald said.
"We know who we are, and what our core competencies are. And we just keep attacking it. The offensive coaches hear from me every once in a while, and they’ve been great, solving problems and keeping the attack going."
Seattle finished Saturday night's game with 180 rushing yards on the night, which is more than the entirety of the 49ers offense managed in the game. The Seahawks had 88 rushing yards in the first quarter alone, which included Zach Charbonnet's 27-yard touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead.
Charbonnet finished with 74 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, and Ken Walker III had 97 yards on 16 carries to lead the team. The duo combined for seven receptions for 59 yards to supplement their rushing production as well.
The Seahawks have now rushed for 171 yards against the Los Angeles Rams, 163 yards against the Carolina Panthers, and 180 yards against the 49ers in consecutive weeks.
And in perhaps one of the more wild stats you'll see, the Seahawks picked up a third down conversion of at least 15 yards with a running play for the third straight week. Walker had a 17-yard carry on third-and-16 against the Rams, Charbonnet had a 25-yard gain on third-and-15 against the Panthers, and Walker gained a key conversion with a 19-yard run on third-and-17 on the field goal drive that made it a 13-3 game.
In fact, there have only been four instances all season where a called running play has picked up a successful conversion of at least 15 yards. The Seahawks have ALL FOUR. Walker also had a 19-yard touchdown run against the Pittsburgh Steelers on third-and-goal in their Week 2 win.
The only other rushing conversions of at least 15 yards on third down came from scrambling quarterbacks. Josh Allen, Justin Herbert and C.J. Stroud (ironically against Seattle) were the only other instances.
Walker finished the year with his first 1,000-yard season, rushing for 1,050 yards and nine touchdowns. Charbonnet's 11 touchdowns are the most by a Seattle running back since Marshawn Lynch's 13 touchdowns in 2014.
If the improved rushing attack is sustainable, the Seahawks' floor is much higher in the playoffs.
"The offensive line, the tight ends, receivers, like everybody on our offense we’re continuing to communicate with each other throughout the week on what runs we like, communicating on different looks that the defense can present to us," Darnold said. "I just think the communication and the cohesiveness of that group up front is continuing to get better and better all year."
– Sam Darnold gave Seattle the controlled game they needed.
With a dominant defense and a strong rushing attack, the Seahawks didn't need Sam Darnold to be a superhero, and he played the part nearly perfectly on Saturday night.
Darnold still made some key contributions for Seattle, including a 24-yard connection with Cooper Kupp on a third-and-10 in the fourth quarter, and a trio of sizable gains to Jaxon Smith-Njigba. A third down scramble for a first down after facing immediate pressure in his face was another big highlight.
However, Darnold didn't need to force anything extra to put the ball in peril against a 49ers team that appeared entirely incapable of moving the ball on offense.
There was one hold-your-breath moment for the Seattle offense when a fumbled exchange between Darnold and Zach Charbonnet almost led to a turnover, but the loose ball was recovered and Ken Walker III's third down conversion run bailed them out two plays later. Darnold tripped over the foot of center Jalen Sundell and lost the ball while falling down trying to get the ball to Charbonnet, who made the fumble recovery.
"I think in that situation again I would probably try to just tuck the ball and take the loss and not try to hand it off." Darnold said.
The one other significant negative moment came on the opening drive. After the running game carried the offense down the field, a bad sack pushed the offense back from the 1-yard line after he missed finding an open Charbonnet in the end zone on first-and-goal. Seattle ultimately came up with no points on the drive after going for it on fourth down and failing to convert on a throw for Cooper Kupp.
But after the defense forced a three-and-out to get the ball back on the 49ers' half of the field, Charbonnet's 27-yard touchdown run gave Seattle a lead they never let go.
It's not that Darnold couldn't give the Seahawks more. This game just didn't need that performance.
"We’re going to celebrate this one but we know that we have a lot of work to do," he said.
Darnold still finished with 198 yards passing, completing 20-of-26 passes on the day. Darnold led the fourth quarter comeback against the Rams two weeks ago, which shows he's got that tool in his bag as well.
The Seahawks understood the type of game they were playing, and Darnold played his role perfectly in managing the offense to a victory that puts Seattle in prime position for the playoffs.
Darnold also became just the second quarterback in NFL history to win 14 games in consecutive seasons, joining Tom Brady.
– Odds & Ends.
– Jason Myers missed a pair of field goals to snap a streak of 18 consecutive field goals made. Myers hadn't missed a kick since the 61-yard game-winning try at the end of the loss to the Rams in Los Angeles in November.
Myers missed from 47 yards and hammered the left upright from 26 yards out for his two misses in the game. Throw in a kickoff out of bounds that led to San Francisco's only scoring drive and it was easily Myers' worst performance of the season.
Myers has been fantastic for Seattle this season, but the regular season ends on a slightly sour note.
– Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught six passes for 84 yards in the game to finish the season with 1,793 yards and 119 receptions, both franchise records. He came up seven yards shy of becoming just the seventh receiver in NFL history to eclipse 1,800 yards in a season, but his 1,793 yards are the eighth most in a single-season ever.
Smith-Njigba's season trails only Calvin Johnson (1,964, 2012 Detroit), Cooper Kupp (1,947, 2021 LA Rams), Julio Jones (1,871, 2015 Atlanta), Jerry Rice (1,848, 1995 San Francisco), Antonio Brown (1,834, 2015 Pittsburgh), Justin Jefferson (1,809, 2022 Minnesota), and Tyreek Hill (1,799, 2023 Miami).
– Tackle Josh Jones briefly left the game after having Malik Mustapha land on the back of his legs in tackling Ken Walker III in the backfield. Amari Kight replaced him for one offensive snap to conclude the drive before returning to action the next series.
Jones had been questionable to play with knee and ankle injuries, but was able to make it through the game outside of the one missed snap.
– Head coach Mike Macdonald said that left tackle Charles Cross and safety Coby Bryant are both likely to be back in time for Seattle's playoff opening game in two weeks. Additionally, tight end Elijah Arroyo, running back George Holani, and linebacker Chazz Surratt are all eligible to return from injured reserve as well.
– The Seahawks cannot play the Chicago Bears or Philadelphia Eagles prior to the NFC Championship game. The Bears and Eagles will be the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the conference depending on results from Sunday's games. Chicago is the No. 2 seed with a win over the Detroit Lions, or an Eagles loss to the Washington Commanders.
The Carolina Panthers will be the No. 4 seed as the NFC South winners if the Atlanta Falcons beat the New Orleans Saints. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be the No. 4 seed if the Saints beat the Falcons, or if there is a tie.
The 49ers and Rams will be the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds. The Rams get the No. 5 seed with a win over the Arizona Cardinals, and the 49ers get the No. 5 seed with a Rams loss to Arizona.
The Green Bay Packers are the No. 7 seed no matter what happens on Sunday.
Seattle will play the lowest remaining seed (No. 4-7) in the Divisional Round after next weekend's Wild Card Round.
The Source: Information in this story came from FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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