Crediting his offensive line for the dominant showing, Walker was keenly aware of how Seattle’s rushing attack was affecting San Francisco.
“You can see it when they’re breathing — they tire, you know, they’re slow to get up,” Walker said. “You can see it’s demoralizing to them.”
With the rushing attack rolling and the defense standing strong, Darnold didn’t need to do much in his first playoff win. He finished 12-of-17 passing for 124 yards and one TD before getting pulled midway through the final frame. It was perhaps the most ideal scenario for the Seahawks quarterback, who entered the game questionable with an oblique injury he suffered on the final day of practice.
Seattle’s 35-point win is tied for the largest in franchise playoff history, matching the Seahawks’ dominant Super Bowl XLVIII victory in 2013, per NFL Research. It’s also tied for second-largest margin of victory in a playoff game in the NFL in the last 20 seasons.
“They got us pretty good,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said bluntly.
Saturday night’s dominance has Super Bowl aspirations on the horizon in Seattle. While the Seahawks will certainly be relishing a big playoff win against a division rival, Macdonald is ready to get back to work after his first career playoff victory.
“It was a heck of a win, man,” Macdonald said. “And it’s funny, in the locker room, it’s like, you know, really excited, proud of the effort, and let the guys understand that there’s still a mission at hand, and we got another week coming up here and we need to take care of business every day. So, that’s the focus. Proud of the group. We’ll celebrate today, guys will be off tomorrow and back on Monday.”
The Seahawks are set to host the NFC title game against the winner of Sunday night’s Divisional Round showdown between the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Bears.