The road to Super Bowl LX in the NFC will go through Seattle. The Seahawks crowned themselves NFC West champions and, in the process, earned the conference's No. 1 seed after a 13-3 win over the 49ers on Saturday night.
Seattle will now have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, along with a first-round bye. The 49ers, who had previously clinched a playoff berth, will enter the postseason as a wild-card team. If the Rams lose to the Cardinals on Sunday, San Francisco will be the No. 5 seed. If L.A. wins, the 49ers will be the No. 6 seed.
While the final score suggests a low-scoring affair, the game was more lopsided than it appeared. In the first half, Seattle outgained San Francisco 196-69 and took a 10-3 lead into the locker room. The second half proved even more dominant for Mike Macdonald's defense, which shut out the 49ers in the third and fourth quarters.
San Francisco's best scoring opportunity came early in the fourth quarter after finally reaching the red zone. On second-and-goal from the Seattle 6-yard line, Brock Purdy's pass was tipped off the hands of Christian McCaffrey and intercepted by Seahawks linebacker Drake Thomas. Seattle then drained more than eight minutes off the clock on the ensuing drive to help put the game away.
Sam Darnold completed 20 of 26 passes for 198 yards in the win. While efficient through the air, Seattle leaned heavily on its ground game. Kenneth Walker rushed for 97 yards on 16 carries, while Zach Charbonnet added 74 yards and a touchdown on 17 attempts. On the other side, Purdy finished 19 of 27 for 127 yards with one interception.
For more on how this game unfolded, check out our takeaways below.
While this ended up being a double-digit win for Seattle, it easily could have been a blowout. The Seahawks had multiple chances to pull further away from San Francisco but couldn't quite step on the 49ers' throats. Even with Seattle keeping them within reach, however, the 49ers never showed they had it in them to make the Seahawks pay by mounting a comeback.
On the game's opening possession, Mike Macdonald kept his offense on the field for a fourth-and-goal attempt from the 4-yard line. Instead of taking an early 3-0 lead, Seattle came away empty-handed when the attempt failed, resulting in a turnover on downs.
The 49ers gained possession and proceeded to go three-and-out.
In the second quarter, Jason Myers missed a 48-yard field goal that would have extended Seattle's lead, keeping the score at 7-0 and giving the 49ers the ball at their own 37-yard line. Despite moving into Seahawks territory, San Francisco turned the ball over on downs after Purdy's fourth-down throw fell incomplete.
Those were just two examples of Seattle letting San Francisco hang around and keep a comeback in the cards, only for the 49ers to prove incapable of making enough plays to actually pull it off.
As noted above, it was a banner day for Seattle's running back duo of Waler and Charbonnet. The two combined for 171 yards on 33 carries (5.1 yards per carry) and a touchdown. Both were also factors in the passing game, with Walker catching all four of his targets for 36 yards and Charbonnet adding three receptions on four targets for 23 yards in the win.
Charbonnet made his presence felt early, ripping off a 27-yard touchdown run on Seattle's second possession of the night. He sprung loose thanks in part to a tremendous block from A.J. Barner on the left side.
While Walker didn't find the end zone, he delivered a clutch moment that kept Seattle in the driver's seat. Facing third-and-17, Walker ripped off a 19-yard run to move the chains after two clunky offensive plays, including a botched exchange that resulted in a Darnold fumble that Charbonnet recovered.
Walker's conversion kept the drive alive and eventually led to points, with Myers connecting on a 31-yard field goal to make it a two-possession game.
Darnold's numbers won't jump off the page, but the Seahawks quarterback was dialed in on Saturday -- a full-circle moment for him. Last year, Darnold entered Week 18 in a nearly identical spot, with his Vikings traveling to Detroit for a matchup that would decide both the division and the No. 1 seed. In that moment, he faltered. Fast-forward a year, and Darnold delivered a redemption of sorts, even if it came in a different uniform.
One of Darnold's biggest highlights came on Seattle's 16-play fourth-quarter drive as the Seahawks looked to bleed the clock. Facing third-and-10 from the 49ers' 36-yard line, Darnold rolled to his right and threw across his body, zipping a 24-yard completion to Cooper Kupp to move the chains.
Darnold is the fifth quarterback in NFL history with multiple 14-win seasons, joining Tom Brady (4), Patrick Mahomes (3), Peyton Manning (2) and Joe Montana (2).
With the win, Seattle secured the No. 1 seed, home-field advantage and a first-round bye. After the week off, the Seahawks will face the lowest remaining seed to advance from Wild Card Weekend.
As for the 49ers, they'll land either the No. 5 or No. 6 seed depending on the outcome of Sunday's Cardinals–Rams matchup. San Francisco will be rooting for Arizona, as a Rams loss would lock the 49ers into the No. 5 seed and a wild card date with the NFC South winner (Carolina or Tampa Bay). If the 49ers fall to the No. 6 seed, they'll face either the Bears or Eagles.
This is the fourth time that the Seahawks have claimed the No. 1 seed in the NFC. In those prior instances (2005, 2013 and 2014), they reached the Super Bowl.
The Seahawks forced a turnover on downs on fourth-and-6. Brock Purdy got popped on an incomplete pass to George Kittle and was slow to get up. He eventually jogged to the sideline.
It is still a 13-3 game in favor of the Seahawks with 2:20 to go in regulation after Jason Myers missed his second field goal attempt of the night. The 26-yard attempt was no good with the ball doinking off the goalpost.
Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Brock Purdy's throw was a little behind Christian McCaffrey, and the ball bounced off his hands and into the arms of Drake Thomas for the interception. Erases a key scoring opportunity for San Fran.
From CBS Sports Research: The 49ers are 0-46 when down 10+ points in the fourth quarter under Kyle Shanahan (including playoffs).
Seattle may not have scored a touchdown on that possession, but Sam Darnold certainly cashed in.
Insane run by Walker to pick up 19 yards to move the chains on third down. That's a back-breaking conversion for San Francisco. Seattle continues to dominate on the ground.
Man, that was ALMOST the break that San Francisco needed. Darnold got stepped on by his lineman, which forced him to trip and fumble the ball. Fortunately for them, Seattle was able to jump on it.
Deommodore Lenoir may have just made the play of the night for San Francisco. Seattle was likely to go for it on fourth down had the offense failed to convert on third-and-2 from the San Francisco 40-yard line. However, Lenoir's tackle of Charbonnet to create a five-yard loss forced Seattle to punt. Massive swing and yet another instance where the Seahawks failed to capitalize on a scoring opportunity.
For a minute, it looked like San Francisco was going to start the second half on a positive note. However, the Seahawks defense proceeded to put the clamps down and continue pressuring Purdy. Jarran Reed got to Purdy for a sack to create a third-and-long and an eventual 49ers punt. Seattle has opportunities to extend their lead, but failed to do so fully in the first half. Let's see if they rectify that here.
Eddy Pineiro netted a 48-yard field goal to give the 49ers their first points of the night and suddenly make it a one-possession game. Given the missed field goal and turnover on downs by Seattle, they have allowed San Francisco to hang around in this first half.
Jason Myers was able to redeem himself with a 45-yard field goal to give Seattle a 10-0 lead. While this is now a double-digit lead for the Seahawks, the score doesn't do justice to how dominant they've been. They have 193 total yards compared to San Francisco's 39 total yards.
Darnold is dialed in right now. He's already made a number of impressive throws and is now making plays with his legs. After facing immediate pressure up the middle, Darnold was able to evade the sack and rush five yards for a first down. Fantastic pocket mobility.
It's Seahawks ball after Kyle Shanahan left his offense on the field on fourth down and failed to convert. Seattle swarmed Brock Purdy from the snap, and he barely had time to get the ball out. San Francisco's offense has just one first down so far in this game.
It's still a 7-0 lead for Seattle, but that comes as they failed to increase that advantage after Jason Myers missed a 47-yard attempt. It was a good response by the 49ers defense on that possession, particularly from corner Upton Stout. He broke through his block to take down Kenneth Walker III on third down to force the field goal attempt.
Not the most inspiring start for the 49ers offense, logging back-to-back three-and-outs. With Trent Williams inactive for this game, I've noticed Brock Purdy feeling a solid amount of pressure in the early goings. San Fran's defense will need a big stop here, or this could begin to get out of hand.
Seattle has taken an early 7-0 lead over the 49ers thanks to Zach Charbonnet ripping off a 27-yard touchdown. So far, the Seahawks are dominating the 49ers on the ground between Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker III. Between the two, they've rushed for 67 yards on nine carries (7.4 yards per carry) and a touchdown.
Cannot overstate how important that sack was. Not only was it clutch in San Francisco to keep Seattle off the scoreboard, but it was also rare. The Niners come into Week 18 dead last in the NFL with 18 sacks.
San Francisco's defense has shown up early. After Seattle rather methodically drove down to the Niners' 1-yard line, the defense was able to stand strong and force a turnover on downs. The stand was spearheaded by a sack from Tatum Bethune to push Seattle back off the goal line. Then, Mike Macdonald left his offense on the field instead of opting for a field goal (and an early lead), which ended up resulting in a turnover on downs.
As a reminder: The winner will be the No. 1 seed and the NFC West winner. The loser will fall to a wild-card entry. If Seattle loses, they'll be the No. 5 seed and take on the NFC South winner (Buccaneers or Panthers). If the 49ers lose, they will either be the No. 5 (with a Rams loss) or No. 6 seed (with a Rams win).
