Earlier this week I wrote a pregame article about the Seahawks season coming full circle in this Week 18 game between the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers. That couldn’t have been more true with
how this contest turned out, a thoroughly dominant 13-3 road victory riddled with missed opportunities that would’ve saved all Seahawks fans a few gray hairs down the line. I had to have a little fun with the title for this one since after the first matchup, I wrote a postgame article titled “Seahawks lucky to not get blown out by weakened 49ers.” Everything came full circle!
Make no mistake, this was a bona fide ass-whooping that should’ve been even worse. Mike Macdonald preached having a team that plays a style nobody wants to play against. Tonight’s performance by Seattle was exactly that. The defense was absolutely suffocating once again, making every yard a fight for the 49ers and punishing the ballcarriers with vicious (but clean) hits. That was paired with a rushing attack that was just as fierce, wearing down San Francisco’s short-handed defense while moving the chains and burning the clock. It was a throwback style that is perfectly suited to playoff football.
Seahawks Droppings
- There’s a lot of good, so I’ll start with the nitpicks before I get to the fun stuff. Even though Zach Charbonnet was open on that 1st and goal pass play from the 1-yard line, I absolutely hate that call. Seattle wants to be a hardnosed team. Run the ball four straight times if you have to, but pound it into the end zone.
- I hope Jason Myers got the bugs out of his system prior to the playoffs. Two missed FGs – both of which should be nearly automatic from that range – and a kickoff out of bounds penalty. The Seahawks special teams has been a huge positive this year, a trend that would be much appreciated for the playoffs.
- The defensive line was back to its bullshit in the best of ways. They bottled up Christian McCaffrey and the 49ers run game, holding them to 53 yards on 12 carries. Brock Purdy was also constantly harassed in the pocket as they brought him down for 3 sacks, 1 each from Jarran Reed, Derick Hall, and Uchenna Nwosu. My personal favorite was Reed’s sack with the “2 pump” celebration homage to Michael Bennett. Hall must’ve been rested following his suspension as he crunched Brock Purdy on their final 4th down play as well.
- The linebackers didn’t want to be overshadowed, with Drake Thomas making probably the play of the game when he intercepted a bobbled pass off Christian McCaffrey’s hands at the 3-yard line early in the 4th Quarter. Ernest Jones was his usual solid self, cleaning up tackles.
- What about the secondary? Nick Emmanwori was injured on the third play of the first matchup, and made up for that in spades today. He led the team with 7 tackles, including a huge TFL on a screen to George Kittle. Devon Witherspoon was throwing his body around all over the field once again today, feeding the fire. Spoon was way more composed than many other players would’ve been after he was blocked far into the sidelines and thrown down. Josh Jobe and Riq Woolen each had big plays themselves.
- Sam Darnold was efficient today, and took care of the ball for the most part. There were a couple wayward throws, two of them to JSN, and a botched handoff attempt that Seattle was fortunate to come away with. The rest of the time, Darnold was calm in the pocket and got yards on the ground when he needed to. Revenge game number three for the season is in the books.
- The WRs did what was needed today. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had a sneaky 84 yards on 6 catches, one of them a great adjustment on a throw behind him. Cooper Kupp only had 2 catches for 29 yards, but they were both chain movers. Jake Bobo had a hell of a block on one of the long run plays.
- And let’s talk about that run game. 39 carries for 180 yards with 171 of those split between Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet. Walker had 16 carries for 97 yards while Charbonnet added 74 yards and 1 TD on 17 carries. Both backs were highly effective today with many of these carries coming when the 49ers were expecting them. Being able to run the ball when the defense knows you’re going to is a huge statement on the toughness of this Seahawks team.
- Lastly, I have to talk about the offensive line. The running backs wouldn’t have gotten that many yards without some fantastic blocking from the hosses up front. They weren’t just blocking well in the run game either. Sam Darnold had a whole lot of clean pockets to maneuver today. Josh Jones has been better than expected filling in for Charles Cross, and provides depth should he be needed in the playoffs. Three straight games of 150+ yards rushing is a massive development heading into the postseason.
Your 2025 Seattle Seahawks are NFC West Champions with a franchise-record 14 wins. They’ve secured the No. 1 seed and have a first-round bye for the playoffs. That means a stress-free week for Seahawks fans after this torrid finish to the season. Seasons like this don’t come around very often, so enjoy it!
