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Brady Henderson
Santa Clara, California– leonard williams The smoke-filled visitor’s locker room at Levi Stadium on Saturday night didn’t want to leave, even Seattle Seahawks They were having a wild celebration after achieving their biggest win in recent memory.
“The victory cigars were pretty amazing,” said Pro Bowl defensive lineman Williams. “At one point I literally couldn’t breathe there, but it didn’t really matter. …It was so beautiful to see my team celebrating.”
With the NFC West title and the conference’s No. 1 seed at stake, Williams’ defense led Seattle to a 13–3 win against a division rival. san francisco 49ersThe Seahawks rode their emerging play and got a lot from the quarterback Sam Darnold Earned their seventh consecutive win by earning a first-round bye and home-field advantage during the NFC playoffs.
With Levi’s Stadium hosting Super Bowl LX, Mike McDonald’s team is hoping to bounce back in five weeks.
“The things we’ve been working on, especially this year, are coming to life,” McDonald said. “I’m incredibly proud of them. They worked incredibly hard, they played together, they played complementary football. Each phase picked up the other.”
With the win, the Seahawks finished the regular season with a franchise-best 14–3 record in Year 2 under McDonald, who replaced Pete Carroll after the 2023 season. Darnold, who also went 14-3 last year minnesota vikingsJoins Tom Brady (2003 and ’04) as the only quarterbacks to win at least 14 games in consecutive seasons.
But it was won by Seattle’s defense and run game.
McDonald’s unit entered Week 18 scoring the second fewest points in the NFL, but they were facing a tough test against the league’s most aggressive offense. The 49ers scored at least 37 points in each of their last three games, and brock purdy There were a total of 10 touchdowns in the last two.
In a performance that would make the Legion of Boom proud, the Seahawks kept San Francisco out of the end zone and allowed only 173 total yards, the 49ers’ fewest in any regular season game since Kyle Shanahan became head coach in 2017. According to ESPN Research, the three points were his fewest points since he scored that many in Shanahan’s debut.
“The 49ers are scoring at will. They’re not punting,” the linebacker said. Ernest Jones IV Said. “We know our style of play. Let’s go out there, play the way we know how to play and see what happens, let’s see what they have. And for us to come out and hold them to three points is huge.”
The Seahawks sacked Purdy three times and intercepted him on a key play in the fourth quarter. With just over 10 minutes remaining, the 49ers were putting together one of their better drives of the night, heading to the end zone with a chance to cut Seattle’s lead to 13–3.
But on a second-down play from Seattle’s 6-yard line, the outside linebacker boy sorry Purdy’s throw was tipped at the line of scrimmage. it stopped running back Christian McCaffrey In the flat and to the right of the linebacker drake thomasWho ended the 49ers’ scoring threat with his first career interception.
“I’m one-on-one,” said Thomas, an undrafted free agent in 2023 who has been one of the unsung heroes of McDonald’s defense in his first season as a starter. “I know he had an alternative route to me, and to be honest, he probably beat me to the corner, but I think Mafe got a piece of the ball… and changed his direction. The ball went off his back shoulder and straight into my hands. God is good.”
The Seahawks, who entered Week 18 allowing a league-low 3.7 yards per carry, held McCaffrey to 23 yards on eight attempts. They have gone 26 consecutive games without allowing 100 yards rushing.
And now they’ve finally got their own walking game.
The hard work that was put in for most of the season has translated into strength just in time for the playoffs. after Kenneth Walker III And Zach Charbonnet Having played 100-plus-yard games the past two weeks, Walker went for 97 yards on 16 attempts. He scored 19 on third down and 17 minutes of play in the third quarter, leading a drive that ended with a field goal and giving Seattle a 13–3 lead.
Charbonnet scored the only touchdown of the game, finding the end zone on a 27-yard run in the first quarter. He completed 74 yards on 17 attempts.
Charbonnet was open in the flat for a touchdown on Seattle’s opening drive, but Darnold took a sack for an 11-yard loss, and the Seahawks came up with no points after San Francisco stopped them on fourth down.
Darnold was in this situation a year ago with the Vikings, needing a win in the regular season finale to clinch the No. 1 seed. But they had to struggle to a crushing defeat detroit lionsCompleting only 18 out of 41 attempts. Darnold’s Pro Bowl season ended a week later when he was sacked nine times in the wild-card loss. Los Angeles RamsFueling questions about his big-game ability.
The Seahawks signed Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million deal after being traded in March. geno smith till las vegas raidersDarnold made his second consecutive Pro Bowl despite committing an NFL-high 20 turnovers in the first 17 weeks,
In one of the biggest games of his career on Saturday night, Darnold did a lot of things — and he took care of the ball. Seattle’s quarterback completed 20 of 26 attempts for 198 yards and no turnovers.
The game was that close as Seattle missed three scoring chances. Generally reliable, except turnovers on downs on first possession jason myers Missed a 47-yard field goal in the first half and a chip-shot in the fourth quarter that would have given Seattle a 13-point lead. Darnold converted a third-and-10 on an extended play before Myers’ last down miss.
The Seahawks went 6 of 13 on third down and 0 of 3 in the red zone.
“That was an unbelievable play, and kind of a weird play,” Darnold said. “On offense, we didn’t perform the way we wanted to in the red zone and at the end of drives. But our defense, they stepped up time and time again. … It was an incredible win. I’m very proud of the guys in that locker room. We’re going to celebrate it, but we know we have a lot of work to do.”
Darnold earned another $1 million in contract incentives with over 4,000 passing yards (4,048) and a completion rate of over 67.5% (67.7%). The Seahawks have already received at least $500,000 by making the playoffs and will receive another $500,000 as long as they finish the regular season in the top 10 in total offense.
With six catches for 84 yards, Jackson Smith-Njigba Finished with an NFL-best and franchise-record 1,793 yards. It is the eighth-highest single-season total in league history.
In the first quarter, Smith-Njigba committed a pass interference penalty on the 49ers cornerback Demodore LenoirWho said earlier this week that he was hoping to shadow Seattle’s star receiver.
“I definitely heard it,” Smith-Njigba said. “It’s hard to respond to all my fans, but I knew we were going to meet them today and take care of business.”
With their win, the Seahawks improved to an NFL-best 15–2 on the road in two seasons under McDonald, including 8–1 this year. Now, they won’t need to leave home for the playoffs, unless it’s a return trip to Levi’s Stadium to try to claim the franchise’s second Lombardi Trophy.
“To be able to play in front of the 12 is huge,” Darnold said. “It’s different than any other stadium I’ve ever played in, how fast it can be and how hard it can be and how hard it can be to operate another offense.”
Seahawks hope left tackle charles cross (hamstring) and safety kobe bryant (kneeling) back for the divisional round, after those starters missed three and two games, respectively.
In the meantime, they can celebrate one of the biggest regular season wins in their franchise’s 50-year history.
“Honestly, I don’t want today to end,” said Williams, who is in his 11th season. “I’ve been hanging out in that locker room for a long time. That’s probably why I’m here for the last time right now. But it’s unbelievable. I’ve been playing for a long time. This is the closest team I’ve ever been on, the winningest season I’ve ever had.”
“Overall, the work is not done. That’s another thing I love about this team. People are celebrating, but in the midst of the celebration, you hear people saying, we have more work to do.”
