The Seattle Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers in a stinker on Saturday night by a score of 13-3 to capture the NFC west division and the #1 seed in the NFC going into the playoffs. As I mentioned in a previous post, this gives them a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout January.
The score could be misleading as this was a defensive slugfest, despite Seattle putting up 361 total yards. They just didn’t have much redzone success and their kicker Jason Myers missed 2 field goals! Yikes! Sam Darnold had an efficient night throwing the ball; 20/26 for 198 yards, 0 touchdowns, and no picks. The run game saved them as they had 180 rushing yards on 39 carries for an average of 4.62 YPC and 1 touchdown (the only TD of the game going to Seattle RB Zach Charbonnet – Seattle’s future main ball carrier).
Seattle has had some impressive wins this season on their road to a league-best 14-3 record, namely against the Jaguars, Texans, Rams, 49ers, and Colts. Their defense is top-3 in the league and they have a very underrated offense. Seattle is a very difficult place for visiting teams to play in and now they get a week to rest before they play in the divisional round. The only factor that can unravel this emerging team is their inexperience in the playoffs, as only 3 of their 22 starters played in their last playoff appearance in 2022. They even have a coach in his second year (Mike MacDonald) who is playing in first playoffs as HC (who I remain bullish on). However, this is a strong team, with a smothering defense and efficient offense, a strong young coach, and a hostile playing environment for visiting teams. I would be the least bit surprised to see them represent the NFC in the Super Bowl in San Francisco on February 9th.
Verdict: Super Bowl Contenders
