Seahawks start fast and roll past 49ers, advance to NFC Championship Game

SEATTLE -- As it turns out, the Seattle Seahawks didn't even need a healthy Sam Darnold to cruise to a spot in the NFC Championship Game. The quarterback's supporting cast is just that good.

Coach Mike Macdonald's squad now has an even stronger claim as the most complete team in this season's playoffs after it delivered an all-three-phases 41-6 win over the division-rival San Francisco 49ers Saturday night.

Their top-rated special teams got it started with Rashid Shaheed returning the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown before Jason Myers added two field goals. The NFL's best scoring defense got three takeaways, forced three more turnovers on downs and held San Francisco to a pair of field goals. Kenneth Walker III scored three rushing touchdowns and Darnold looked just fine despite the oblique injury he suffered in practice Thursday, which gave the top-seeded Seahawks a scare ahead of the team's first home playoff game with fans in the stands in nine years.

They gave the 12s a show with the kind of performance that should only reinforce the Seahawks' Super Bowl hopes -- even if their quarterback has to continue playing at less than 100%.

Seattle Seahawks

What to make of the QB performance: Darnold didn't come onto the field until about 45 minutes before kickoff, skipping early warmups in an apparent attempt to limit his pre-game throwing. But he didn't appear limited by his oblique injury once the game kicked off, moving well and throwing with what looked like his usual zip. On his lone touchdown pass, he rolled to his left and delivered a strike to receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the end zone. He completed 12 of 17 attempts for 124 yards before being pulled with nine minutes to go and Seattle leading by 35. The Seahawks didn't need Darnold to be the hero in this one, and he didn't try to be. He put the ball in harm's way only once and got away with it.

Trend to watch: With their commitment to the run, a proven rushing scheme and two talented tailbacks, it seemed like a matter of time before the Seahawks got that part of offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak's offense going. After slogging their way through much of the regular season, Seattle's run game is on a roll. This was their fourth straight game with at least 160 rushing yards. Walker (19 yards and three touchdowns on 116 carries) led the way, as Zach Charbonnet left in the second quarter with a knee injury and didn't return. Left tackle Charles Cross also went down with a foot injury in the third quarter and didn't return, which is another concern for Seattle heading into the conference title game.

Turning point: If it wasn't Shaheed's touchdown on the opening kickoff or the turnover on downs Seattle got on the 49ers' opening drive, it was Ernest Jones IV's forced fumble later in the first quarter. The second team All-Pro inside linebacker stripped tight end Jake Tonges after a catch. Safety Julian Love recovered, setting up Darnold's touchdown pass to Smith-Njigba for a 17-0 lead. The rout was on from there. Jones intercepted Brock Purdy in the third quarter. Seattle's defense held San Francisco to a total of three field goals over their past two games.

Stat to know: The Seahawks pressured Purdy on 19 of his 33 dropbacks (58%). Per ESPN Research, that was the second-highest pressure rate and the most pressures he's faced in a game in his career. He completed 6 of 14 attempts for 74 yards, an interception, two sacks and a lost fumble when pressured. The Seahawks' 19 pressures are their most in 20 playoff games since ESPN began tracking the stat in 2009. Their previous high was 15, which they reached twice in the 2016 postseason. -- Brady Henderson

Next game: vs. Chicago Bears/Los Angeles Rams (6:30 p.m. ET, Jan. 25)

San Francisco 49ers

In some ways, the 49ers' season ending on the same field where it began on Saturday night was fitting.

All the way back in Week 1, the Niners overcame injuries and their own miscues to pull out a stunning win against the Seahawks.

By the time both teams reached the NFC divisional round on Saturday night, Seattle was a fully formed Super Bowl contender while the banged-up Niners -- without star Nick Bosa, Fred Warner and George Kittle -- were hanging on by a thread, hoping to conjure up some sorcery to pull off another significant upset.

Finally, after 18 games in which the 49ers somehow, some way continued to find ways to win, there was nothing left to give. For the second time in three weeks, Seattle proved it's the better and more complete team and the 49ers ran out of whatever magic they'd mustered for most of the season.

A blowout loss to a division rival on the playoff stage will undoubtedly sting for San Francisco as it heads into an important offseason.

When that wears off, however, the 49ers should be encouraged by the fact that a season that was supposed to be a reset still resulted in 13 victories and a trip to the NFC's Final Four. There will be much to figure out in the coming months, not least of which is to solve their continued injury woes. The pass rush, receiver group and secondary will all need significant resources to improve. A new defensive coordinator could be needed if Robert Saleh leaves for another head coaching opportunity.

They won't want to hear it any time soon, but the Niners will have plenty to work with once they sort through the wreckage of Saturday's demolition.

Turning point: After the Seahawks opened the game with a 95-yard kick return for a touchdown from Rashid Shaheed, the 49ers' offense was on the move with a chance to, at minimum, get points on the board and quiet the raucous Seattle crowd. Facing third-and-1 at Seattle's 40, coach Kyle Shanahan eschewed the quarterback Brock Purdy sneak that has worked all season and called a run for running back Christian McCaffrey, who was stopped for no gain.

Shanahan went for it on fourth down and appeared to have a conversion on a throw from Purdy to receiver Jauan Jennings. But officials blew the play dead and gave the Seahawks a timeout. The extra time resulted in a too-cute playcall with fullback Kyle Juszczyk running right with the option to pitch to McCaffrey. The last-second toss went out of bounds. Seattle took over and managed a field goal to extend the early lead to 10-0 with the Niners never coming within a single score again.

Most surprising performance: The 49ers wide receivers were nowhere to be found.

San Francisco hoped that receiver Ricky Pearsall's return from knee and ankle injuries would help open things up for the offense, but the only success Purdy had throwing against Seattle's top-ranked defense for most of the night was to tight end Jake Tonges or McCaffrey -- both of who were suffering with injuries early in the third quarter.

Pearsall had only two targets in the opening three quarters and was unable to complete the catch for what would have been a pivotal third-down conversion late in the second quarter. Niners receivers had three catches for 24 yards on 10 targets, not nearly enough for a team missing Kittle (Achilles).

Stat to know: How big was Seattle's win over the Niners? The 35-point margin of defeat was not only the biggest in any game of the coach Kyle Shanahan era (beginning in 2017) but the second-largest margin they've had in a playoff game in franchise history. The only worse postseason loss by the 49ers came in the 1987 divisional round against the New York Giants. San Francisco lost 49-3, a 46-point loss that is the fifth-largest margin of defeat in any postseason contest. -- Nick Wagoner

Next game: Week 1, 2026