Seahawks dominate round three against 49ers, advance to NFC Championship

The Seahawks hosted the 49ers for the second time this season in the NFC’s Divisional Round on Saturday night. San Francisco came in off a win over the Eagles in the Wild Card Round, while Seattle was coming off a first-round bye.

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The Seahawks wasted no time in their bid to play in the NFC Championship. Seattle wide receiver Rashid Shaheed returned the game’s opening kickoff 95 yards up the sideline for a touchdown, electrifying the Lumen Field crowd. 

On the return, Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones said, “That was electric. To be off for two weeks, start the game off like that in front of 70,000 people, that's a great way to start. It gave us a boost, but it also just confirmed what we knew – let's go ahead and play our game, and this will happen often.”

The Seahawks’ defense was outstanding in the first quarter. San Francisco drove to the Seattle 40-yard line on its first possession, but failed to convert a fourth-down attempt with only one yard to go on a Kyle Juszczyk run. The Seahawks answered with a 31-yard Jason Myers field goal. 

On only the second play of the ensuing 49ers drive, tight end Jake Tonges fumbled after an 11-yard reception, which was recovered by Seattle safety Julian Love. The play set up a Seahawks touchdown drive capped off by quarterback Sam Darnold finding All-Pro receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the corner of the end zone, giving Seattle a 17-0 lead. 

San Francisco managed only six points in the first half with two field goals from kicker Eddie Pineiro. After a 10-play drive that stalled at the Seahawks’ 19-yard line, Pineiro hit from 40 yards and followed with a 56-yard make later in the second quarter.

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan leaned heavily on running back Christian McCaffrey and Jake Tonges in the first half. The two players combined for 127 of the team’s 149 total yards in the first two quarters. 

The Seahawks stretched their lead before the half with an impressive 80-yard drive thanks to running back Kenneth Walker and a 33-yard end-around handoff to Rashid Shaheed. Walker finished the drive with a seven yard touchdown run with 36 seconds remaining in the second quarter, and the Seahawks took a 24-6 lead to the locker room. 

The 49ers saw a tough start to the second half. Christian McCaffrey was sidelined with a stinger he suffered late in the second quarter and Jake Tonges injured his foot on the opening San Francisco possession. The 49ers’ first drive ended with Seahawks defensive lineman Leonard Williams sacking Brock Purdy in his own territory on fourth down. Jason Myers made a 24-yard field goal after the turnover on downs to give the Seahawks a 27-6 lead. 

As the 49ers’ offense got the ball back, Purdy’s problems would continue. Just two plays into the drive Purdy was intercepted by Ernest Jones at the San Francisco 47-yard line. The Seahawks would score off the interception six plays later on a 15-yard touchdown run from Kenneth Walker. 

Purdy completed 15 of 27 pass attempts for only 140 yards. When asked about the Seattle defense, Purdy said “It's no secret in terms of their style of play. It's to try to make the quarterback check it down and play deep to short. And then within that, have a good pass rush. And that's a good defense, man. Like, it's a smart way to play. And bring some pressures and stuff also and try to make them mess up. They did a good job with that.”

The Seahawks added another touchdown and another forced turnover in the fourth quarter on their way to a 41-6 route of the 49ers. Walker scored again from six yards out after a three minute drive, and the turnover came by way of DeMarcus Lawrence on a strip sack fumble that was recovered by safety Nick Emmanwori. 

Kenneth Walker was the offensive star of the game finishing with 19 carries for 116 yards and three touchdowns.Walker is the first running back in Seahawks franchise history with three rushing touchdowns in a playoff game. 

Sam Darnold was efficient going 12 for 17 while averaging over seven yards per attempt. Christian McCaffrey was the most productive player for the 49ers with 74 total yards from scrimmage. 

San Francisco’s season ends after battling injuries to star players including Purdy, Nick Bosa, Fred Warner and George Kittle. After the game, Kyle Shanahan said “a lot of guys got to play this year that haven't played in the past, and that should help us for the future. But we'll come in Monday and we'll deal with all this stuff, put this game to bed and deal with all the players, and then we'll very quickly start on our offseason plan, how to build this team the best way possible to give us a shot next year.”

The Seahawks will host the NFC Championship Game next week in Seattle. Sam Darnold said he will continue to manage an oblique injury that he suffered Thursday at practice throughout the postseason. Running back Zach Charbonnet injured his knee and left tackle Charles Cross injured his foot Saturday. Mike Macdonald was optimistic about both looking ahead to next week’s game. 

Seattle will play the winner of the Rams and Bears Divisional Round game on Sunday. On playing for a spot in Super Bowl LX, Sam Darnold said “It's big for us to, especially to play here in an NFC Championship at Lumen (Field) with the 12s behind us. It doesn't get any better than that.” 

The Seahawks hope to maintain their perfect record in the NFC Championship next Sunday after winning their three previous appearances (2005, 2013, 2014).