The Seattle Seahawks made the loudest possible statement with their NFC West title win over the San Francisco 49ers. While the offense may have played much better than the 13 points suggested, the defense was every bit as dominant as the 3 points allowed indicated.
For context: Seattle had 180 yards rushing and the 49ers mighty offense was limited to 173 TOTAL yards. Christian McCaffrey was held to 57 total yards, there were zero explosive runs given up, and the normally dominant George Kittle was limited to 29
yards on five catches.
But here’s the biggest and best stat of all that indicates Mike Macdonald’s defense has established itself as the NFL’s best defense:
That’s right. Even in the few seasons where Kyle Shanahan coached bad 49ers teams (like 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2024), they’d never been held to just a field goal. Even that field goal drive went all of 30 yards right before halftime. San Francisco was held to 2-of-9 on 3rd down, 0-for-2 on 4th down, and just nine first downs all evening.
Again, this was in the 49ers’ building.
I don’t care if Mike Macdonald wins Coach of the Year. It’d be cool but there are several legitimate competitors in the mix to win the award. This regular season in itself has shown he was the right coach for the Seahawks, and in perhaps the most poetic way possible, he avenged prior defeats to the Rams and 49ers by beating them both in order to win the division.
Well done, Mike. Well done to the Seahawks defense.
