Saturday night is the rubber match between the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks. Following a loss in Week 18 to Seattle, the Seahawks are well rested off their bye week, while the 49ers left Philadelphia
with a hard-fought victory. Unfortunately, the win came at a high cost, with the loss of George Kittle, who is invaluable to the 49ers’ offense.
No matter the circumstances, the two rivals will face off again with a trip to the NFC Championship on the line. The two teams have had some historic regular-season clashes, but have only met twice in the playoffs, which makes Saturday’s matchup a rubber match in its own right. Including the postseason, the Seahawks lead the overall series 32-24. The 49ers will look to draw the record closer to their favor with a road victory on Saturday night.
Let’s look back at the two playoff matchups.
January 19, 2014 – NFC Championship Game – Seattle 23, San Francisco 17
I’m sorry, 49ers fans. No matter how many years pass from this game, I still wake up in a cold sweat with what could have been. Realistically, this was the Super Bowl. The Denver Broncos stood no chance against either team. This game had everything. Some Russell Wilson magic on fourth down, Colin Kaepernick jump throwing a missile to Anquan Boldin right over Earl Thomas’ head to quiet the crowd, Navarro Bowman stripping Marshawn Lynch, but destroying his knee, and Seattle kept possession. The very next play, Lynch fumbled on fourth down. The perfect “ball don’t lie” moment.
Let’s talk about it. The 49ers had the ball for the final drive. What we didn’t realize is that the feud between Michael Crabtree and Richard Sherman was born at a celebrity softball game during the offseason. Sherman recounts the interaction, saying Crabtree had a few drinks in him during a meetup with the participants, and said Crabtree was trash-talking about how many yards he was going to put on Sherman. Sherman said Crabtree was trying to make it physical as well.
Once Kaepernick floated his pass to Crabtree, that was deflected by Sherman and into the hands of linebacker Malcolm Smith (49ers legend?), Seattle went into victory formation, and Crabtree felt Sherman’s wrath in his post-game rant. During that time, there was so much intrigue between the two teams. Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll had a rivalry, the comparisons between Wilson and Kaepernick, and the beef between Sherman and Crabtree.
Great, now I’m sad again.
January 14, 2022 – NFC Wild Card Game – San Francisco 41, Seattle 23
In what would be Carroll’s final playoff game as Seattle’s head coach, the Seahawks actually led the game at halftime 17-16. A Jason Myers 56-yard field goal as time in the first half expired gave Seattle the lead after the 49ers jumped out to a 10-0 lead on the back of a Robbie Gould field goal and a three-yard touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey from Brock Purdy.
However, that’s all she wrote for Seattle, because the 49ers steamrolled the Seahawks in the second half to the tune of 25 unanswered points before a garbage-time D.K. Metcalf touchdown (his second of the day) with 1:48 left in the fourth quarter.
Brock Purdy finished with four total touchdowns (one rushing) in his first-ever playoff start and probably should have had five if Brandon Aiyuk had hung on to this pass following his mad scramble all over the field. Deebo Samuel finished with a team-high 133 receiving yards, padded by a 74-yard touchdown run after the catch in the third quarter. Samuel added 32 rushing yards, and the 49ers would advance to face the Dallas Cowboys at Levi’s Stadium in the divisional round.
Saturday will be the third matchup between the two teams. How do you see this one playing out? Let us know in the comments!
