Seahawks silence 49ers in Week 18, win NFC’s No. 1 seed

Santa Clara, California — The Seattle Seahawks Heading into the playoffs as the NFC’s No. 1 seed. They’ll take with them a seven-game winning streak, an impressive defense and an emerging run game.

Armed with the NFC West crown and the conference’s top seed, Mike McDonald’s team took the field and clawed their way back. win 13-3 Above san francisco 49ersjust getting enough from Sam Darnold and the passing game to stop their division rivals at Levi Stadium.

In a battle of the NFL’s second-best scoring defense and its best offensive tackle, the Seahawks prevailed. San Francisco had scored at least 37 points in its last three games brock purdy There were 10 total touchdowns compared to the previous two, but Seattle pressured the 49ers’ quarterbacks while holding the Niners to a field goal.

With their win, the Seahawks improved to an NFL-best 15–2 on the road in the two campaigns under McDonald, including 8–1 this season. Now, they won’t have to leave home for the playoffs unless it’s a return trip to Levi’s Stadium for Super Bowl LX.

They look the part of a Super Bowl contender — even with a passing game that takes your breath away at times.

What is meant by QB performance: Darnold did not throw a touchdown pass, and he had a chance for one on Seattle’s opening drive, only to have an easy toss bypassed in the flat. Zach CharbonnetBut Seattle’s quarterback did what he had to do – which was not turn the ball over on a night in which the Seahawks’ run game and defense were supposed to suffice, He survived a disastrous moment when he fumbled after being tackled by an offensive lineman, but Seattle recovered, Darnold completed 20 of 26 passing for 198 yards,

Viewing Trends: Seattle finally has a run game – just in time for the playoffs. This has been difficult for most of the campaign, and not for lack of commitment. Through the first 15 weeks, the Seahawks ranked 28th at 3.9 yards per carry, while leading the NFL in designed rush rate. But Kenneth Walker III and Charbonnet had averaged 100 yards passing respectively the previous two weeks before the combine. For 171 yards Saturday night. Charbonnet gave Seattle a 7–0 lead with a 27-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter – the only touchdown of the game.

turn: linebacker drake thomas‘First career interception was huge. With the Seahawks leading 13–3 with about 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the 49ers were making one of their best drives of the night. But on a second-down play from Seattle’s 6-yard line, Purdy’s throw deflected at the line of scrimmage before going the right direction. Christian McCaffrey‘s hand and Thomas’s midsection. Thomas, a 2023 undrafted free agent who is in his first year as a starter, has been one of the unsung standouts of McDonald’s defense.

Most Amazing Performance: The Seahawks have the NFL’s top-rated special teams, according to ESPN Analytics and Kicker jason myers There is a big reason for this. But Myers had an uncharacteristically bad night. In the first half, he missed a 47-yard attempt and also sent a kickoff out of bounds, giving San Francisco 15 free yards on a drive that would end in a field goal. It was Myers’ first miss since Week 11. He managed to hit from 45 and 31 yards on his next two attempts, but then missed a chip shot in the fourth quarter that would have given Seattle a 13-point lead.

Playoff path: The Seahawks had earned the No. 1 seed three times in franchise history prior to this season. All three times, they made the Super Bowl. They are now hoping to make it 4 out of 4. As the NFC’s top seed, they will host the conference’s lowest-remaining seed in the divisional round. they should have left the tackle charles cross (hamstring) and safety kobe ​​bryant (knee) returned while those starters missed three and two games, respectively. The Seahawks’ declining success at Lumen Field in recent seasons has led to questions about what happened to their once famously strong home field advantage. But this season they went 6-2 with five straight wins. — Brady Henderson

A win was difficult to come by but still within reach, which removed the 49ers from a chance to carve out the most favorable paths to the postseason in this improbable season.

Facing a Seattle team that dominated them for most of Saturday night, the Niners, despite themselves, still had a chance to pull it out at the end of the fourth quarter. Surprisingly, this opportunity existed due to the 49ers’ defense full of defense, which kept them in a game where Seattle stopped San Francisco’s first high-flying offense.

However, this time there was no turning back.

The result was a 13-3 loss, which not only means the Niners won’t be the NFC’s top seed, but now they’ll have to do what they’ve done most of the year: overcome huge obstacles to make any kind of postseason noise.

All season long, following a significant offseason roster reset and a series of devastating injuries, the Niners have proven adept at outperforming expectations. The Niners’ new reality is that there are no easy wins anymore.

From here, the 49ers will likely face good teams with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations. Teams like Seattle. And an already difficult regular season is about to get even more difficult in the postseason.

most amazing performance: The 49ers’ offense was the hottest in the league Saturday night, averaging more points than any team in the league as Purdy returned from a right toe injury suffered in Week 11. But that unit really hasn’t played as good a defense as Seattle’s, and it showed.

The 49ers didn’t record a first down until a little more than 11 minutes were left in the second quarter, and their 105-yard output through the first three quarters was the lowest San Francisco offense has produced since Shanahan took over in 2017. They finished with only 173 total yards, an average of 4.1 yards per play. It was reasonable to expect Seattle to hold the Niners below their recent production, especially without the left tackle trent williams (hamstring) and receiver Ricky Pearsall (Knee, Ankle) But the lack of production was troubling given the stakes.

turn: Desperately needing a takeaway to spark the offense, the 49ers had a golden opportunity with 4:31 left in the third quarter. Seahawks quarterback Darnold slipped coming out from under center and missed the handoff to Charbonnet. The ball bounced loose and the Niners defensive lineman Yetur Gross-Matos There was a clear chance to recapture it deep in the Seattle area.

He didn’t recover it and Charbonnet tackled him for a 7-yard loss. Two plays later, the Seahawks converted a third-and-17 with a 19-yard run and added a field goal to make it a two-score game that San Francisco could not overcome.

Playoff path: The loss drops the Niners to the fifth seed in the NFC…for now. While the Niners would undoubtedly love to stay there, a more realistic possibility is that they will be the sixth seed. If Los Angeles Rams Green Arizona Cardinals On Sunday, the 49ers will drop to No. 6 while the Rams remain at No. 5 with a loss or tie. This is a significant difference as the fifth seed will travel to play against the NFC South division winner. carolina panthers Or tampa bay buccaneerssomeone will get sixth preference philadelphia eagles Or Chicago Bears And spend the NFC playoffs on the road barring a series of upsets before the NFC Championship Game. –Nick Wagner