Will Seahawks deliver another historic beat down?

It's been almost 30 years since a team did what Seattle's defense just did to the 49ers

Here’s a fact about Seattle’s 41-6 win over the 49ers on Saturday that I don’t think anyone else has realized: It was the 100th time in league history that two teams from the same division faced each other in a playoff game. It was also the largest beat down by any team out of all 100 contests: 35 points.

Seahawks fans won’t care that much about making history in the playoffs unless the Seahawks also win the Super Bowl, but sometimes making history implies that a team is destined for greatness. This edition of Seaside Joe covers the historical context of Seattle’s blowout win over the 12-5 49ers and then I’ll answer a few Super Joes questions.

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A team has only ever score 40+ and allowed single digits in a playoff game to an opponent with at least 12 wins three times in the Super Bowl era:

1) In 1991, the Bills beat the Raiders 51-3 in the AFC Championship game, intercepting starter Jay Schroeder five times which is especially impressive given that Schroeder only threw nine picks in the regular season. However, Schroeder’s second interception came when the Raiders were already down 31 points so I think he was just going for broke at that point.

Buffalo improved to 15-3, including playoffs, but lost 20-19 in the Super Bowl to a Giants team with the number one defense led by defensive coordinator Bill Belichick and Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor.

And speaking of remarkable playoff games (and remarkable NFC Championships) the Giants were coming off of a 15-13 win over the 49ers in which the losing team scored the only touchdown of the game; New York defensive tackle Erik Howard forced a fumble in the final minutes that was recovered by Taylor, setting up a game-winning field goal by Matt Bahr, his fifth of the contest.

(Howard re-tells the great story of the play in this article.)

How fitting that the Seahawks beat the Colts 18-16 this season with Indianapolis scoring the only touchdown of the game and Jason Myers making six kicks?

Now as I was saying, a team has only scored 40+ and allowed fewer than 10 points in a playoff game against an opponent with 12+ wins two other times:

2) Seahawks 43, Broncos 8 (Super Bowl XLVIII)

3) Seahawks 41, 49ers 6 (Saturday)

Some of you may be thinking to yourself that the Niners won 12 games in the 17-game era, which is true BUT San Francisco had 12 wins before they played their 17th game and we know what happened then and it’s somewhat historically relevant too: The Seahawks held a team with 12 wins to 3 points. A defense does that about once per season.

The last time Seattle did it and the last time it happened to San Francisco was the same game: The Seahawks beat the Niners 29-3 in the 2013 season.

The rarity of Seattle’s division round win over the Niners becomes more clear with this strange twist and I had to double-check to make sure this is right:

It’s the first time a team has held a division opponent to six points or fewer in a playoff game since 1997!

These are all the instances and you can see we haven’t seen anything like it since 1968:

The 1968 Raiders and 2025 Seahawks are the only two teams to beat a division opponent by 35 points in a playoff game. Which is of course even stranger because in 1968 there were only two AFL divisions! (And 4 NFL divisions.) Remarkably, the Raiders would lose to Joe Namath’s Jets of destiny the following week.

With so many playoff games in the playoff era, and seemingly so many of them between division rivals, I wonder to myself “How can this be?” But I checked a third time.

Saturday was the 100th playoff game between division opponents in history and the Seahawks tied the record for the largest margin of victory by a team out of 100.

In a few days, Seattle will host the 101st edition of a division rival playoff game against the L.A. Rams. What do the Seahawks have in store for us next?

Billy Stephens previews a Macdonald-McVay showdown in this video.

Did you read Tuesday’s bonus article? Who I think will replace Klint Kubiak as the next OC.

More Historical Moments:

• Seattle had the 3rd fewest passing yards (106) in a playoff game in which the winning team scored at least 40 points (1967 Raiders, 2004 Falcons)

• Kenneth Walker is only the 4th RB to rush for 100 yards and 3 TD in a playoff game with fewer than 20 rushing attempts (Saquon Barkley 2024, Curtis Martin 1996, Marion Motley 1948)

• Cooper Kupp caught 2 passes for first downs on plays when the team had 13+ yards to go to move the sticks*; the entire rest of the NFL combined has 5 such catches in the 2025 playoffs, nobody else has more than 1 (Kupp had 0 such plays in the regular season)

• Christian McCaffrey totaled 41 carries for 127 yards in three games against Seattle; McCaffrey averaged 52 rushing yards per game and 3.2 yards per carry against NFC West teams, the worst he did against any division. In 2023, McCaffrey averaged 119.2 yards and 6.4 yards per carry against NFC West teams

• The Seahawks have run 63 plays with a 7+ point lead in the postseason, which is the most of any team despite only playing one postseason game

*I think it’s amazing that Robert Saleh is a head coach again and no team allowed more teams to convert “13+ yards to go” plays for first downs than the 49ers defense.

McCaffrey had the second-worst rushing season of all-time against Seattle: The only RB to have that many carries and fewer yards per carries against the Seahawks in a single season is Marshall Faulk, who averaged 2.7 YPC against Seattle in 2003. I have nothing against McCaffrey, but I’ll be surprised if he has another season in his career like what we’re used to seeing from him.

Teams that score 40+ and allowed <10 in a playoff game:

-SEA 41, SF 6 2025

-NE* 45, IND 7 2014

-SEA* 43, DEN 8 2013

-NYJ 41, IND 0 2002

-NYG 41, MIN 0 2000

-JAX 62, MIA 7 1999

-SF* 44, NYG 3 1993

-BUF 51, RAI 3 1990

-NYG* 49, SF 3 1986

-WAS* 57, LAR 7 1983

-OAK 56, HOU 7 1969

-OAK 41, KC 6 1968

-OAK 40, HOU 7 1967

*SB Winner

Now I’ll close out with a few questions:

Bret: Can our current stable of backs be trusted, or are we likely on the lookout for a street free agent? Who comes to mind for you, if anyone?

The Seahawks opened the practice window for George Holani on Wednesday and Macdonald told the media there’s a chance he can play on Sunday. That news is a little unexpected given how long it has been since we’ve seen Holani (last game was November 23rd but last carry was November 16th) but Macdonald says he’s in “great shape”.

So it does not seem like the Seahawks will need to seek outside help at running back. I would trust Kenneth Walker III and Holani, especially if the offense (line, tight ends, Robbie Ouzts, and receivers) to block as well as they have recently. Seattle’s run game has stepped up tremendously:

• The Seahawks have rushed for 160+ yards in four consecutive games, tied for the longest streak by ANY team at ANY point in 2025.

Seattle’s the best rushing team going right now.

IdahoFred: I have heard it said that Stafford is not the same since their last game with us. Is he hurt, hit a wall, something else or nothing is wrong with him?

Well, it’s sports so regression is to be expected. Stafford had 25 TD/2 INT in the first 11 games and that’s not really who he is or what he’s known for. As I wrote on Monday, Stafford’s not completing a good percentage of his passes recently and has never completed 60% against Macdonald.

He’s pretty old for an NFL quarterback (38) and he’s going into his 20th start of the season without a break. It’s sort of the same story as McCaffrey: I’m impressed with how durable Stafford has proven to be at this stage of his career, but I’m not expecting him to carry his offense like people are accustomed to seeing from him.

There’s nothing wrong with him that should exceed what we expect of any football player in late January: Nobody is “100% healthy” at this stage of the season if he’s been playing all year. Sam Darnold is dealing with stuff. Everyone is. If Stafford struggles, and I expect him to to some degree, I think it has more to do with the level of defense he’s facing.

Derek A: Davante Adams was out the last time these two teams met. What can the Seahawks do to slow down the Rams offense that ran over them without Adams?

I actually had not even thought of Davante Adams until you mentioned him. Despite the 14 touchdowns he scored this season, I would actually say that Colby Parkinson has surpassed him as a weapon of value on L.A.’s offense.

Adams’ last 4 games: 34 targets, 15 catches (44%), 196 yards, 0 TDs

Parkinson’s last 11 games: 56 targets, 39 catches (72%), 430 yards, 9 TDs

Those are different amounts of times of course, but midway through the season the Rams started to transition from Adams to Parkinson as Stafford’s number two target next to Puka Nacua. I would say that Davante Adams is cooked and this could be his last season. The majority of his touchdowns came right on the goal line. Anywhere else on the field, he’s replaceable.

Seattle also has to keep tabs on Tyler Higbee and Terrance Ferguson, L.A.’s other tight ends in 12 and 13 personnel.

Did you read Tuesday’s bonus article? Who I think will replace Klint Kubiak as the next OC.

More Super Joes Questions to come, so make sure you’re subscribed and tell other Seahawks fans about us!

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