SEATTLE — Sam Darnold‘s oblique injury became the biggest storyline heading into Seattle’s divisional round matchup with the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday, giving the Seahawks and their fans a scare after the Pro Bowl quarterback left practice two days earlier.
It quickly became an afterthought.
Rashid Shaheed returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, jump-starting an all-three-phases beatdown by the Seahawks in a 41-6 win over their division rival at Lumen Field. Seattle raced to a 17-0 lead and never looked back as its top-ranked scoring defense dominated San Francisco for the second game in a row while Kenneth Walker III and an emerging run game led the way offensively.
And Darnold looked just fine.
“That’s probably the most complementary game we’ve played up to this point,” said coach Mike Macdonald, whose team will host the Chicago Bears or Los Angeles Rams next Sunday in the NFC Championship Game.
The Seahawks handed the 49ers their most lopsided loss of the Kyle Shanahan era, which began in 2017. For Macdonald, who replaced Pete Carroll in 2024, it was the third-largest win by a head coach in his playoff debut in NFL history, according to ESPN Research.
It came in front of a raucous crowd, as the Seahawks hosted their first playoff game with fans in the stands in nine years. Lumen Field was already buzzing when Shaheed sent it into a frenzy by returning the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.
“Really good team win from the first snap,” said Darnold, who secured the first playoff victory of his eight-year career. “The kickoff, [Shaheed] taking it to the house, that was special. To hear that stadium too, rocking the way it was tonight, unbelievable, man. The 12s came out. It was fun. Our defense doing their thing. And as an offense too, the ball control, I feel like that was huge for us all game and finishing in the red zone.”
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