It was over before it even really started. Honestly, if you blinked during the opening kickoff of the NFC Divisional Round on Saturday night, you missed the moment the San Francisco 49ers' season essentially went up in smoke.
So, who won the niner game? The Seattle Seahawks didn't just win; they absolutely dismantled the 49ers with a 41-6 blowout at Lumen Field. It was a "get out of the stadium as fast as possible" kind of night for Kyle Shanahan’s squad.
The Disaster at Lumen Field
Lumen Field is always loud, but when Rashid Shaheed fielded that opening kickoff at the 5-yard line and didn't stop until he hit the end zone 95 yards later, the place turned into a literal earthquake. It took 13 seconds for Seattle to take a 7-0 lead. The Niners looked shell-shocked.
They never recovered.
By the time the first quarter ended, it was 17-0. This wasn't a game of inches; it was a game of miles. Kenneth Walker III was a human wrecking ball, racking up 116 rushing yards and finding the end zone three times. He tied Shaun Alexander’s franchise record for playoff rushing scores in a single game, and he made it look easy.
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Basically, the Seahawks' "Dark Side" defense treated Brock Purdy like a freshman in a varsity scrimmage.
Why the 49ers Couldn't Move the Needle
You've got to look at the injury report to understand why this was such a lopsided mess. San Francisco was playing without three of their biggest hammers: George Kittle, Fred Warner, and Nick Bosa.
That’s a lot of All-Pro talent sitting on the sidelines in street clothes.
Trent Williams, who was out there gutting it out with a bad hamstring, summed it up pretty perfectly after the game. He talked about how hard it is to maintain expectations when you’re literally signing guys off the street and throwing them into a playoff game against the top seed in the conference.
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- Brock Purdy’s Rough Night: 15-of-27 for 140 yards. He threw a pick to Ernest Jones IV and lost a fumble.
- CMC’s Struggle: Christian McCaffrey was limited to just 35 rushing yards. He took a nasty "stinger" to the shoulder in the second quarter, tried to come back, but eventually had to call it a night.
- The Turnover Margin: You can't turn the ball over three times in the playoffs and expect to survive. You just can't.
Sam Darnold’s Revenge?
There's a weird irony in seeing Sam Darnold lead the Seahawks to a dominant win over his former team. Darnold wasn't even 100%—he was dealing with an oblique injury all week—but he played clean football.
He didn't need to be a hero.
He just had to be efficient, and 12-of-17 for 124 yards and a touchdown to Jaxon Smith-Njigba was more than enough when your defense is handing you the ball on a silver platter every ten minutes. It was Darnold's first career playoff win. For a guy who has been through the ringer in this league, that's a massive milestone.
What This Means for the NFC Championship
With this win, Seattle moves on to host the NFC Championship game next Sunday. They’ll be facing the winner of the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams matchup.
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If you're a Seahawks fan, you're feeling invincible. They tied their largest margin of victory in playoff history, matching that legendary 43-8 Super Bowl win over the Broncos.
For the 49ers, it’s a long flight back to the Bay Area. They won 13 games this year (counting their Wild Card win over the Eagles), but they ran out of gas and healthy bodies at the worst possible time.
Key Takeaways for the Offseason
- Depth is Everything: The Niners' star-heavy roster is great until the stars get hurt. The drop-off from George Kittle to a practice squad replacement is a chasm.
- The Seattle Secondary is Back: They forced Purdy to hold the ball, leading to sacks and desperate throws.
- Shaheed was the MVP: That opening score took the air out of the 49ers' lungs immediately.
If you were hoping for a nail-biter, this wasn't it. It was a beatdown. The Seahawks are one win away from the Super Bowl, and the 49ers are heading into a very quiet February.
Now that the season is officially over for San Francisco, the focus shifts to the training room. Getting Kittle, Warner, and Bosa healthy is priority number one. On the Seattle side, they’ll be watching the injury status of Zach Charbonnet and Charles Cross closely as they prepare for the conference title game. Both left with injuries on Saturday, and even with a 35-point win, losing your starting left tackle is a headache nobody wants this late in January.