SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Seahawks walked into Levi’s Stadium on Saturday afternoon hoping it would be the first of two times they will play here over the next five weeks.
They spent the next three hours showing just why they may indeed be back for the Super Bowl on Feb. 8, with a surprisingly dominating 13-3 win over the 49ers in a showdown for the NFC West title and the No. 1 seed in the conference that would have been even more decisive if not for a few self-inflicted errors.
While happy, the Seahawks seemed far from satisfied.
“We’re going to celebrate this one, but we know that we’ve got a lot of work to do,” said quarterback Sam Darnold.
With the victory, the Seahawks clinched their first division title since 2020 and the top seed in the NFC playoffs for the first time since 2014 while getting their 14th victory of the season against three losses, a franchise record for wins in a season in just the second year for coach Mike Macdonald.
During a news conference after the game in which his players could be heard celebrating next door, Macdonald deflected the credit back to his team.
“You can hear them in there,” Macdonald said. “They love each other man. It’s so much fun to go to work every day and coach this team.”
Macdonald said he talked with defensive coordinator Aden Durde on the flight down, saying: “I don’t want it to end. I just want to keep going. Every day has just been a massive blessing. I just love these guys.”
Macdonald was hired following the 2023 season to replace Pete Carroll because of the defensive acumen he’d displayed during a meteoric decadelong rise as an assistant.
And he proved that he just may be the best defensive mind in the NFL on Saturday, putting together a scheme that held a San Francisco offense that had averaged 42.3 points, 455.3 yards and 29.3 first downs the last three games to just three points, 173 yards and nine first downs.
The Seahawks had a 263-105 edge in yards at the end of the third quarter, at which point they had given up just 244 yards in their previous seven quarters before the 49ers unleashed their one decent drive of the night, trailing 13-3 early in the fourth quarter.
But even that ended in Seahawks defensive supremacy when a pass tipped by Boye Mafe went in and out of the hands of star 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey and into those of Seahawks linebacker Drake Thomas for an interception at the 3-yard line with 10:21 left.
A Seahawks offense that was far from perfect, but avoided turnovers for only the fourth time all season, uncorked an 89-yard, 16-play drive that took up 8:01.
“Incredible,” Darnold called the drive.
The drive ended in a missed Jason Myers field goal.
But the real damage had been done in using up most of the clock.
It was a drive that might finally dispel any worries about Darnold’s ability to win the big one as he completed 4 of 5 passes on the drive for 48 yards, twice completing passes on third downs to keep the drive alive, the most critical a 24-yard completion to Cooper Kupp on a third-and-10.
The Seahawks have clinched the top seed heading into the playoffs four times. Each of the other three times – 2005, 2013 and 2014 – they advanced to the Super Bowl.
Getting the top seed means the Seahawks will get a bye in the wild-card round of the playoffs and a home game in the divisional round the weekend of Jan. 17-18 – their first home playoff game in nine years.
That game will come against the lowest-remaining seed from the wild card game and could mean a rematch against the 49ers or Rams.
Win that, and the Seahawks would host the NFC title game Jan. 25 with a chance to get to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in franchise history.
“Of all the things I’ve been thinking about over the last 30 minutes or so, that’s definitely a point of pride,” Macdonald said of assuring at least one home playoff game.
Seattle improved to 8-1 on the road, setting a single-season record for road wins, and won its seventh in a row since a 21-19 loss against the Rams on Nov. 16, and also got revenge for a 17-13 loss against the 49ers in the regular-season opener.
The Seahawks didn’t make it as easy on themselves as they could have, scoring just 10 points in the first half despite driving to the 49ers’ 29-yard line or closer on their first four possessions.
A game that by all rights could have been a blowout at the half was instead just a 10-3 Seahawks lead.
The game was still tight late in the third quarter when they again appeared on the verge of one of their own mistakes, giving the 49ers a chance to get back in it.
On first-and-10 at the 32, Darnold stumbled after taking a snap under center, which resulted in a fumbled exchange to Zach Charbonnet. He beat a few 49ers to the ball for a 7-yard-loss that at least saved the ball for Seattle.
“Huge,” said Darnold, who said he probably should have just tucked the ball and not tried to hand it off.
A play later it was still third-and-17 and a handoff to Kenneth Walker III might have appeared to some a safe play.
But for the third time in recent weeks, the Seahawks turned a third-and-long run into a first down as Walker took a pitch to the right and used good blocks from guard Grey Zabel and center Jalen Sundell to scoot for 19.
On the TV broadcast, 49ers general manager John Lynch was shown holding his hands on his head, likely realizing the game was slipping away.
Darnold hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba for 19 and Charbonnet for 12 to set up a 31-yard field goal by Myers that put the Seahawks ahead 13-3 with 14:15 remaining.
The 49ers unleashed their best drive of the night, moving to Seattle’s 6-yard line where they faced a second-and-goal.
There, Purdy threw it to four-time Pro Bowler McCaffrey near the sidelines. Only, the ball was tipped by end Mafe and went in and then out of McCaffrey’s arms and into those of Seattle linebacker Thomas, who went out of bounds at the 3 with 10:21 left in the game.
The Seahawks shrugged off their recent run of slow starts to dominate this one from the beginning.
They had a 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, outgaining the 49ers 125-16, including 88-4 on the ground.
They had a 196-69 edge in yards in the first half, including 115-23 on the ground, holding a 49ers offense that came into the game averaging 5.6 yards per play to just 3.5.
But some self-inflicted errors had the game feeling a lot closer than it should have been.
While they never punted in the first half, they scored just a touchdown and a field goal on four full drives, once turning the ball over on downs deep in 49ers territory, once missing a field goal, and once seeing a holding penalty help derail a promising drive and forcing the Seahawks to settle for another field goal attempt.