The Seattle Seahawks are opening the 2026 calendar season by buying into the 2016 nostalgia trend. Lumen Field is once again a pit of doom for the visiting San Francisco 49ers like it was when the “Legion of Doom” defense was roaming the field in Seattle in the 2010s. The present day Seahawks whipped the 49ers 41-6 in their NFC divisional round showdown with the 49ers to advance to the NFC Championship game. The 35-point victory is now tied for the most lopsided victory in Seattle’s franchise history along with the 43-8 blowout win in Super Bowl XLVIII against the Denver Broncos 

They’ll host the winner of Sunday’s matchup between the fifth-seeded Los Angeles Rams and the second-seeded Chicago Bears. The Seahawks are now in their first NFC Championship game since 2014, and their third in a row as the conference’s No. 1 seed. 

Seattle began Saturday night with a bang: Pro Bowl returner Rashid Shaheed raced up the middle of the field for a 95-yard kickoff return on the game’s opening play, which whipped the Seattle crowd into a frenzy. Shaheed’s kickoff return score was the NFL playoffs’ first since Dion Lewis’ for the New England Patriots in 2016, and it also the Seahawks’ third in playoff franchise history. Momentum continued to tilt the Seahawks’ way on the 49ers’ opening drive. Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald called timeout just before the 49ers’ initial fourth-and-1 play commenced, and before the refs blew it dead, San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy hit Jauan Jennings for a first down. After the timeout, an option run play between fullback Kyle Juszcyk and running back Christian McCaffrey went backwards for a loss of three.

The Seahawks then settled for a 31-yard field goal before they forced the official first 49ers’ turnover of the night. Seattle linebacker Ernest Jones forced a fumble by ripping the football out of San Francisco tight end Jake Tonges’ arms, and Seahawks safety Julian Love jumped on the loose ball for the takeaway. Five plays later, Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold perfectly executed a play-action rollout to toss a dart to wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a 4-yard touchdown in the back left corner of the end zone. That put Seattle up three scores, 17-0, with just 1:50 left to play in the opening quarter. Darnold finished the night with 124 yards and a touchdown on 12 of 17 passing.

The Seahawks going up 17-0 was significant because NFL teams are now  just 2-16 in playoff history when trailing by at least 17 points after the first quarter of a playoff game. That score also marked both the largest lead for the Seahawks after the first quarter of a playoff game, and the largest deficit for the 49ers after the first quarter of a playoff game. 

San Francisco’s offense picked up seven first downs combined on its first two drives of the second quarter with each one ending with a field goal from Eddie Pineiro — one from 40 yards out and another from 56 yards out. Seattle countered the consecutive 49ers’ scoring drives with a 10-play, 80-yard march that concluded in a cutback, 7-yard rushing touchdown for running back Kenneth Walker III. That put the host Seahawks up 18, 24-6, with 31 seconds remaining in the first half. Walker added a 15-yard rushing touchdown and a 6-yard rushing touchdown in the second half for the hat trick. He finished the night 116 yards rushing and 3 rushing touchdowns on 19 carries for a 6.1 yards per carry average. Walker joined Shaun Alexander as the only Seahawks with at least three rushing touchdowns in a playoff game. 

The Seahawks threw the 49ers in a locker in the second half, outscoring them 17-0. San Francisco’s three third-quarter drives resulted in two turnovers on downs and a Purdy interception while their first possession of the fourth quarter concluded with a strip-sack of Purdy. Purdy finished the night with 140 yards passing, an interception and a lost fumble on 15 of 27 passing while spending much of the night running for his life. Both teams subbed the backups into the game with just over nine minutes left to play. 

TakeawaysThe Seahawks are legit and own the 49ers in 2025

From the opening kickoff, it was very easy to tell which team had 13 days of rest, the Seahawks, and which team was playing on a short week after an opening round win at the Philadelphia Eagles, the 49ers. Seattle just played a faster, more physical brand of football in all three phases Saturday. Shaheed left the 49ers’ kickoff return unit in the dust for an immediate touchdown. Linebacker Ernest Jones punched the football out of 49ers tight end Jake Tonges’ arms to force a fumble that transformed into a takeaway. Jones also stepped in front of San Francisco tight end Luke Farrell to pick off Purdy. Defensive tackle Leonard Williams exploded through the 49ers’ offensive line to rack up a 14-yard sack of Purdy on fourth-and-2 on San Francisco’s opening drive of the second half. Edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence strip-sacked Purdy, and safety Nick Emmanwori recovered the loose ball for the third takeaway of the night. 

The 49ers end the season scoring a combined 26 points in three games against the Seahawks this season. That ties the fewest points scored by any team among 76 single-season head-to-head matchups with three games in the Super Bowl era, since 1966, per CBS Sports Research. The 1994 Pittsburgh Steelers also held the Cleveland Browns to a combined 26 points across three matchups. 

49ers (2025)

26

Seahawks

Browns (1994)

26

Steelers

Colts (1971)

28

Dolphins

Buccaneers (1997)

29

Packers

With the Seahawks’ raucous home crowd coming back to life after a few years of going dormant in addition to dominating in all three phases, Seattle looks every bit like a Super Bowl favorite. 

Sam Darnold not bothered in the slightest by his oblique injury

Darnold popped up on the Seahawks’ injury report on Thursday, the final practice day of the week, as a limited practice participant with an oblique injury. However, he appeared to be totally unbothered by the ailment and the 49ers’ defense. Darnold played a crisp brand of football, completing 12 of his 17 throws for 124 yards and a touchdown. With an extra day of rest before the NFC championship on Jan. 25, Darnold could very well be perfectly healthy when Seattle returns to action with a trip to Super Bowl LX on the line. 

The beat-up 49ers ran out of gas

Entering the divisional round, the 49ers led all playoff teams in player games missed because of injuries with 287. Factor that in with flying 3,000 miles and then playing on a short week on Saturday night, and it looked like San Francisco was running uphill both ways Saturday night in Seattle. Head coach Kyle Shanahan has done a great job with making lemonade out of a reduced inventory of lemons, but there just wasn’t any juice left to squeeze out of his 2025 49ers bunch.