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The Seattle Seahawks clinched the top NFC playoff spot and a solid path to the Super Bowl on Saturday night with a season-finale victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
Seattle also finished with its best regular-season record in franchise history, posting 14 wins for the first time.
The Seahawks eked out a 10-point victory despite outscoring the 49ers 363 yards to 173 and running 64 plays to San Francisco’s 42.
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Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks fails to catch the ball against Ji’Ayir Brown #27 of the San Francisco 49ers during an NFL game on January 3, 2026 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. (Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire)
Seattle missed a field goal in the fourth quarter and turned the ball over on downs in the first quarter to waste two red zone drives, but dominated on defense to prevent those missed opportunities from coming back to haunt them.
The 49ers also blew their best drive of the night when quarterback Brock Purdy was intercepted at the Seattle three-yard line in the fourth quarter facing a 10-point deficit, seemingly clinching the game for the Seahawks.
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Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, in his first season with the team, completed 20 passes on 26 attempts for 198 yards and helped set up the only touchdown of the entire game in the first quarter.
Darnold redeemed a disappointing Week 18 game for the Minnesota Vikings last season when he completed just 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards in a battle for first place against the Detroit Lions.
Darnold said “learning from mistakes and staying calm from the pocket” made the difference in his performance Saturday compared to last year in a postgame interview with ESPN.
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Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the second quarter of a game at Levi’s Stadium on January 3, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had just 127 yards with the late interception, took a big hit on his final pass of the night and then took a while to recover. He was finally able to leave the field and Seattle ran out the clock.
