The Seattle Seahawks’ season is not over. Yet it is already a success.
Seattle hired Mike Macdonald to re-establish the franchise back on its rightful perch atop the NFC West, by way of a full defensive makeover. His job was clear: tame the offenses of football’s two pre-eminent masterminds, out-genius the other two geniuses in his division, thus putting the Seahawks back in position to contend for a title beyond just the West.
He did it. In the space of 34 games, he did it, exactly the thing he was
hired to do. Today, the Hawks are Super Bowl favorites, top dogs in the West, and set up to be great for an extended period of time. In NFL terms at least. Regardless of what happens after a bonus week off as the 1 seed (!), the 2025 Seahawks are an unmitigated success story, into 2026 and beyond, on the strength of their talent and their leader, who just happens to be the league’s second-youngest coach. This is our reality.
Macdonald won this Week 18 showdown with the San Francisco 49ers, in Levi’s Stadium, with everything on the line, and he prevailed his way. His defensive line, linebackers and secondary won this game. Despite being good enough to get the job done, Sam Darnold, the running backs, or Jaxon Smith-Njigba did not win this game. God knows Jason Myers didn’t win it, yikes.
The most fearsome Seahawks defense in a decade danced into the den of their main historical nemesis, held them to three points — fourteen times less than they scored last week — and walked out division champions, bedazzled with a conference-best 14-3 record. (Almost matches the final score itself, isn’t that nifty.)
Our good friend Jacson Bevens, who used to write about the Seahawks once upon a time, delivered the line I wish had come to me first: “The Seahawks have as many losses this season (3) as the 49ers had points today.”
I mean, god damn. Remember looking ahead on the schedule, finding the 49ers games with some trepidation, and going, “aw nutz not that Shanahan offense again,” twice a year? Well, that’s how they look at the Seahawks defense now. For a while, too, because the cycle is just beginning. The Seahawks’ proverbial window is just now being pried open. Probably with a crowbar, by DeMarcus Lawrence, Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed, Uchenna Nwosu, Byron Murphy, Derick Hall and/or Boye Mafe, for that matter.
When you win 13-3, there are any number of plays that can be deemed decisive. The game wasn’t technically decided on Ken Walker’s 3rd and 17 conversion on the ground. But it felt massive, and turned out to matter significantly. John Lynch reaction clip? John Lynch reaction clip.
The game wasn’t technically decided on Darnold’s third down completion to Cooper Kupp inside of four minutes to play and SF out of timeouts. Close, but no locker room victory cigar quite yet.
The game was technically decided on the 49ers’ final flaccid fourth down, a limp pass that fluttered to the turf and allowed the Seahawks to kneel out the 1 seed. A beautiful sentence, if I say so myself.
Can I say something without getting in trouble with all the historians on this site, including yours truly?
There will never be another LOB, but there will always be moments that look like echoes of the most legendary Seahawks defense ever. Both callbacks are in the game recap below. You’ll know them we you see them, but to be safe, I will shout them from the pixeltop anyway.
The most popular X-factors analysts named were typically Woolen (makes sense after Week 1) and Rashid Shaheed (always dangerous in two phases). So naturally, on a night when Seattle really needed to win the turnover battle, they turned to one of the last names you’d guess.
The clip has been all over social media, this website, Seahawks dot com, the news, and your frontal lobe since Drake Thomas burglarized Christian McCaffrey in the red zone and turned the tide with ten minutes left to play. One thing I haven’t heard mentioned yet is a small detail: Thomas makes the catch off-balance inside the two and has the wherewithal to turn upfield instantly upon securing the football. He’s marked out at the three.
“It’s one yard, John. How important could it be?“ Yeah, but, see, the little things are big things. When your offense only manages 13 points, every single yard you can give them matters. Every yard also matters to a team playing the right way, with visions of the ultimate prize before them. And the Seahawks can seize the ultimate prize. They’re good enough, they’re smart enough, and doggone it, they’re set up better than anyone with a one-week head start. The defense can contain any offense. The 49ers came in averaging 34.3 ppg since Halloween. They punted twice in all of December, then twice in the first quarter. They scored the least amount of points in the Kyle Shanahan era.
Okay we’re doing this: the statistical dominance section. The recap can wait. Wild thing is, the Seahawks had it within their grasp to blow out a Niners team that could not keep up on either side of the ball. They certainly did it on the final stat sheet. Seattle rushed for 180 yards, seven more than San Francisco gained total.
That’s not a fair fight. 67 offensive plays to 42? First downs and third downs. The rushing yardage. Time of possession. Upon further reflection, it appears playing on Saturday evening turned out just fine. Recap now.
Though I’m the biggest fan of deferring, ever since the Mike Holmgren days, it was admittedly pleasant to see the Seahawks move the ball with authority on the first drive. Five runs and three passes led to a red zone possession that looked destined for points when trashtalker Deommodore Lenoir was flagged for interfering with JSN in the end zone.
Presented with first and goal at the 1, Seattle ended up with bupkis instead following a Darnold sack and two positive plays, then a curious decision to go for it on fourth and four. Kupp got thrown off his rhythm at the top of his route, the pass sailed wide, and the Seahawks had seemingly squandered a golden opportunity.
The early meltdown didn’t matter as much as it could’ve, as they forced a three-and out and took over on the SF 35, helped by a facemask penalty on the return. Three plays later, Charbonnet popped it outside behind some sumptuous blocking and hustled 27 yards to the house.
We didn’t know it yet, but that run would score more points AND gain more yards than any play the 49ers ran all evening. There was no stopping this Seattle ground attack in the opening minutes. On their first two possessions, the Hawks rushed nine times for 67 yards. On their first two defensive series, they forced two punts. San Fran had punted twice in all of December. The first quarter implied a blowout was in the works. Seattle’s only real mistakes were five-yard procedural goofs to bookend the period, getting a little cute on the one-yard line, and the fourth down decision.
As the second quarter rolled along and the Seahawks surpassed 100 yards on the ground, it looked like the whole world that Myers would extend the lead, make it a two-possession game, and place control of the contest firmly in Seattle’s hands.
Only, he pushed the attempt wide. If anyone near you gasped, that tracks: Myers hadn’t missed wince Week 11. The hope — validated a couple hours later — was it wouldn’t matter, and better now than in the playoffs. Could’ve saved us all a little heartburn though, Jase. C’mon man.
Missed opportunities notwithstanding, the visitors had collected ten first downs, or ten more than the hosts. As long as all the bugs were out of their system, the Hawks looked poised to roll, as in so many road games prior.
Two quick completions, though, and the Niners found themselves in Seahawks territory for the first time. Which is where it quit going well for them. On first down, Riq Woolen made an open-field tackle for loss. Thomas then broke up a pass intended for Jauan Jennings, so Purdy took matters into his own hands and scrambled for nine. Fourth and one on the 39, you’re not punting. You’re also not converting.
Lawrence provides the initial pressure but he’s far from alone. Purdy hurries the throw to a covered receiver. Woolen was there anyway. Sub in Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril for the pass rushers and tell me that doesn’t remind you of Peyton Manning being devoured in XLVIII as Byron Maxwell breaks up the pass.
Darnold wasted no time responding. Play action to JSN picked up 16. A quick hunnerd on the ground will do that. Two rushes and a timely scramble moved the chains again. Walker for six, then Walker for five — no no no there’s a flag. It would be Seattle’s only offensive hold of the evening, but it would derail the drive. This time though, Myers was true and a game that felt 20-0ish was 10-0. You’d take it, but also feel better being up three scores.
Suddenly unwilling to make two consecutive solid plays after a season of pure excellence, Myers sent the kickoff out of bounds. He’d been so good so often; it felt cruel for the football gods to curse him with so much on the line. On the other hand, the 49ers still had more numbers in their team name than total yards (39).
So when Nick Emmanwori provided his weekly “where did he come from” TFL and Witherspoon mimicked him with a flying downhill tackle to bring up 3rd and 10, it already felt like a do-or-die moment for the Niners. They didn’t have a third down conversion yet, halftime was four minutes away, they trailed by ten, and looked overwhelmed on both sides of the ball.
But demons are hard to slay, even for eleven Sarah Michelle Gellars wearing Seahawks helmets and working in perfect concert. Purdy escaped the pass rush to find Jennings, two small gains yielded another first, and on the other side of the two minute warning, it was incumbent on the Seahawks to limit the damage to a field goal try.
They did. Nwosu and Purdy collided on third and short, Eddy Pineiro slammed a kick through the uprights, Seattle’s offense spun its wheels, Shanahan declined to use his timeouts (thanks I guess), which got us to halftime. 10-3 Seattle and a botched kickoff helped account for all of SF’s points. The scoreboard was close but the vibes were good.
It was legit jarring to see the other team out there fielding the second-half kickoff, although “fielding” is generous. Brian Robinson juggled it, let it hit the turf, ran off without it and had to go back, which led to getting bang bang Niner gang tackled at the 10. Still, the 49ers started matriculating, with two third-down conversions, until Jarran Reed disengaged from his block for a second-down sack. Pressure from Emmanwori on third down forced an incompletion. Shaheed wriggled around the punt coverage back to the 37, giving his teammates a chance to make it a two-score game again.
They would not… not yet. Past midfield is when Josh Jones got his leg rolled up on, bringing in practice squad promotee Amari Kight in to play left tackle on maybe the most important third down of the night to that point. Kight, with two snaps to his name all season, didn’t cause the drive to stall, but Charbonnet did lose two. Macdonald elected to punt on 4th and 7, Michael Dickson pinned the Niners deep, and if the hosts were to make a move, 20 minutes left is a pretty good time.
A CMC give and a quick slant to same were good for eight yards. On third and very short, a quick sideline pattern to Robinson at the sticks should be enough — except there’s the angry elf Witherspoon, drilling Robinson in the back as he high-points the ball, and when the receiver comes down with it he’s a yard short.
Shanahan sends out the punt team, and wouldn’t you know it? The 49ers would never again get the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead. Because of Walker. But also watch Jake Bobo make the play possible with some desperate, acrobatic blocking.
This whole roster. Top to bottom. It is special. I don’t know how many playoff games the Seahawks will win this month, but I do know they have the talent and depth to win them all.
While event staff cleaned up John Lynch’s luxury box tantrum*, JSN got free for 19 and then Darnold dumped it off to Charbs for 12 more. A fortuitous (but correct) DPI call extended the Seattle drive. Jones and AJ Barner returned to the game from the locker room, Klint Kubiak played it safe in the red zone, and Myers didn’t miss from 31.
*presumably
The fourth quarter had just begun, less than a minute in, and the final score was set, 13-3, the way it would end, save for three important murders.
- Thomas’ pick killed the 49ers’ best scoring chance (they crossed the SEA 30 only once!);
- The Seahawks killed 8:01 on a drive, only to see Myers hit the upright;
- Purdy was killed on the fourth-down play that clinched victory.
Key plays on the eight-minute Seattle possession included JSN snagging 13 yards on a pass Darnold launched from his own end zone. Needed the QB to play mistake-free and he did. More on that in the final section. Walker got loose for 11 yards on consecutive plays, then Kupp’s clutch conversion forced Shanahan to light his timeouts on fire near the 4:00 mark.
By the time Myers missed his 26-yard chip shot, the game was functionally over. All that remained was for Purdy to get flattened at the intersection of Derick Hall and Leonard Williams Streets. The final hit was so violent and emblematic of a shift in the power balance that it conjured up shades of either Vernon Davis hit. Same teams, same Seattle ascendancy, same intensity. Same feeling as
Only one phase failed to hold up its end of the bargain (special teams) and even then it wasn’t through turnovers. Only one phase succeeded from start to finish, the defense, and only one phase was good (the efficiency of the offense). The Seahawks clinched the NFC’s top seed on the back of a 1.5 effort out of three phases. They can be so much better than they showed the nation Saturday, and that ought to make it very hard to sleep indeed for every offensive coordinator still left game planning.
PREY
For this alone, Deommodore Lenoir. Have some pride.
PREDATOR
Riq Woolen (who the Seahawks should pay) didn’t allow a pass to be completed beyond 10 yards, displayed controlled aggression on his technically perfect tackles, and had none of the Week 1 lapses/overplays that helped cost Seattle that game. I don’t know if they will pay him, but I know he’s a more refined, complete, smarter, more composed player than his rookie self and whooever employs him will get their money’s woorth.
PREDATOR
Nick Emmanwori just does stuff, and you can try and stop him, if chasing futility’s your thing. Two clips below — one a TFL and the other a vicious hit on Brock Purdy. If everyone in the world hadn’t already been calling him a force multiplier, that’s what I’d do.
PREDATOR
Sam Darnold. Haven’t put him here recently but he freaking deserves it. I don’t care how good your supporting cast is: 14 wins two years in a row, in the sport’s toughest division both years, is not something a second-class quarterback gets to have on his resume. He made no costly mistakes in the biggest game of the year, scrambled strategically, played his part, got the plays off on time, made the most of his play-action shots, and therefore won in San Francisco. He is good enough to win any playoff game in this system, with this team. Yes, even the big one next month.
PREDATORS
Oh my God, Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet. As stated earlier, together they outgained the entire output of the Niners offense on designed plays. I’m letting QB scramble yardage cancel itself out on each side.
Both men combined to rush for 10 yards or more six times. Walker converted the 3rd and 17 that led to one of the game’s four scores. Charbonnet notched the game’s only teeder.
Each man individually (97 and 74 yards respectively) was more than twice as productive as the entire running back group for the Niners (32 yards). If you prefer, Seattle’s RBs made five times more progress on the ground the San Francisco’s.
EVEN MORE PREDATORS
Without shame or apology, the entire Seahawks defense. It’s Week 18, anything goes. 54 yards passing allowed to Bryce Young and 120 to Purdy to close out the season. 53 yards rushing last night to cap off a season where they led the league in yards per carry allowed. Constant pressure on Purdy turned into three sacks, four tackles for loss, five passes defensed, eight QB hits and that one precious pick whose exact value can be debated for years. Two fourth-down stops and a takeaway on a day, one more in each column than the other defense.
They were so good. They turned Brock Purdy, he of the career 8.7 yards per attempt, coming off 900 yards passing and 11 Tds in three December games, into Philip Rivers.
APEX PREDATOR
For all the reasons listed in the opening paragraph, all the other predator paragraphs, and all we’ve witnessed since seeing the Seahawks defense become a force of nature this season, Mike Macdonald.
Players make plays. MM is not out there weaving into the backfield and sandwiching Purdy with Aden Durde on the last defensive play of the game. (Although I would pay to see it.) He is leading the operation, and putting the right player with the right skills in the right place at the right time, and turning them loose.
I speak of Witherspoon closing in on 3rd and two to force a fourth-quarter punt when the Niners were starving for a score. Ernest Jones delivering one punishing tackle after another. Drake Thomas coming up with the takeaway in coverage of CMC. Nick Emmanwori Nick Emmanworing all over the field. Riq Woolen reborn into a shutdown corner again, only now with tackling chops too. Josh Jobe a bona fide starting corner, out of nowhere. Julian Love and Ty Okada (and Coby Bryant back when) not letting anything get behind them. Depth at every position. Then, last but absolutely first in my heart, a veritable SEAclone of defensive linemen with complementary skills, a half-dozen of them sent out in gale-force waves at overmatched offensive lines, ball carriers and ball throwers. All this for sixty minutes, without mercy.
Not a single running back rushed for 100 against Seattle all year. Opposing offenses averaged 173 yards passing in their last six games despite the Rams going for 457. The Seahawks have the NFL’s best point differential. Nobody has more wins than Seattle, which makes sense, because they’re the best team in football.
Yes, the players make the plays happen. But Macdonald makes the players happen exactly where they should. The entire National Football League has been warned.
If the Hawks are to go to a place even more special than the 2025 NFC West title, let us go with them.
